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Belgian customs officers at Brussels airport seized a shipment of MDMA disguised as Easter bunnies from a cargo terminal. The substance is the raw material for ecstasy and is an illegal drug in most countries, France24 reports.
Customs officer Paul Meulener said he had used a Raman spectroscopy scanner to identify the substance. When he held the scanner up to the suspicious parcel, the device detected the presence of drugs by chemical fingerprinting. As it eventually turned out, the “treats” were made entirely of MDMA.
The total weight of the parcel was about 1-2 kilograms. According to the authorities, that amount would be enough to make more than 10,000 ecstasy pills. The recipient of the “sweets” is an unknown Hong Kong man who allegedly ordered the substance on the Dark Web. The bunnies were packed and shipped from Belgium.
Belgium is the gateway to Europe for drugs
Law enforcers say that criminals from Europe often use the Belgian postal service to ship illicit substances. The Belgian port of Antwerp is heavily used by smugglers to import plant-based drugs from Latin America. Mainly, South American gangs smuggle cocaine and its derivatives into Europe.
In turn, European laboratories import synthetic drugs such as MDMA, methamphetamine, ketamine, and others into the Americas. According to a spokesman for the SPF, the authorities have managed to seize about 6 tonnes of illicit substances in 2022 alone. The main suppliers are laboratories and clandestine pharmaceutical plants in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Law enforcers have noted a surge in illegal activity due to the ease and accessibility of ordering drugs on the Dark Web. A person just needs to make a couple of clicks, and drugs will be delivered to their doorstep. Most often, the drugs are disguised as jars of legal vitamin supplements and mailed in France, Belgium, and Germany.