Deadly Ecstasy hits UK
A SUPER-STRONG type of Ecstasy linked to the death of a clubber is being made in Dutch labs and shipped in bulk to the UK.
Crystals that are 84% pure MDMA – the chemical name for Ecstasy – are manufactured by Breaking Bad-style scientists and sold for up to £4,300 a batch.
The drugs, called “Champagne”, are then shipped to Britain and across Europe to buyers who purchase them on the encrypted “dark web”.
Our investigators found dozens of vendors peddling the potentially lethal substance.
On one invitation-only website, 1kg of MDMA “Crystals Champagne 84% and made by Dutch Lab” was on offer for 1.3 Bitcoin – the online currency equivalent to £2,578.
The seller promises: “MDMA Crystals made in well-known Dutch labs, brought straight from the lab with no middle men.”
Another cyber vendor calling himself Godfather was offering 50g of Champagne MDMA crystals.
The product description read: “Bulky Champagne Crystals packaged up with the best stealth possible, we try to pack as many rocks as possible into shipments and will ensure to give you the best we can.” JOE HINTON His price list ranged from just under £30 for 5g to £4,290 for 1kg.
Asked how we would receive the drugs, the anonymous seller told us: “The crystals will be vacuum sealed so there will be no smell.
“Any amount over 250g will be shipped in multiple packages.
“I can’t go into specifics about how it will get to your chosen address but it will involve shipping and road transport.”
An underworld source told the Daily Star Sunday it was “almost inevitable” that crystal Ecstasy was being shipped over from the continent.
He said: “The MDMA you are seeing in clubs across Britain is almost always brought over from Holland and Germany. “They have labs over there making high purity stuff.”
We looked into the shadowy trade after a 26-year-old man from Rochdale, Lancs, died and four others were left fighting for their lives after taking drugs at a party in nearby Oldham.
It was originally thought they were victims of the potent form of MDMA but police now believe they may have mistakenly taken a new crystallised version of zombie drug Spice.
Chief Supt Neil Evans, from Greater Manchester Police, said it was “extremely worrying”.