It was declared as ‘dishwashing liquid.’ It was really 4,020 litres of ecstasy precursor drug

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) seized over 4,000 litres of “dishwashing liquid” in Vancouver earlier this year.

Only, it wasn’t dishwashing liquid. It was MDP-2-P, a precursor used in the production of ecstasy and MDMA.

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The seizure happened when border services officers with the CBSA processed a container from Vietnam at the Vancouver Container Examination Facility in May 2017.

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The container held jugs of a chemical that was described as “dishwashing liquid.”

Agents examined the jugs after they were referred to them by intelligence analysis. As they inspected the jugs, they found that the liquids had “inconsistencies.”

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More than 2,800 jugs were tested, and over 800 of them tested positive for MDP-2-P, which is a chemical that’s used in the last stage of ecstasy and MDMA production.

The chemicals could have been used to put anywhere between 22 million and 38 million doses of ecstasy on the streets, said Joseph Chayeski, district director, Metro Vancouver for the CBSA’s Pacific Region.

The precise amount, however, depends on the method used to produce the drug.

READ MORE: Drug overdose deaths in B.C. rise to 488 for 2017