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SYDNEY - A random act of kindness by two helpful police officers in Victoria set off a chain of events culminating in one of Australia's biggest Ecstasy hauls.
Police on Wednesday night seized half a billion dollars worth of liquid Ecstasy from a warehouse at Castle Hill, in Sydney's northwest.
More than 1900 litres of the chemical in scores of containers was allegedly uncovered in the raid. Police say it was capable of making A$540 million ($606 million) of Ecstasy, or 18 million tablets, within several days.
The discovery stemmed from a lucky break for two uniformed officers who stopped to help two men with their broken-down hire van during a routine patrol in Geelong last month.
The officers looked inside the van, and allegedly found 340 litres of liquid Ecstasy. Two senior detectives, from New South Wales and Victoria, yesterday said the December 18 Geelong arrests were critical to this week's seizure.
"Basically, it was the starting point for this investigation," Victorian drug detective Pat Boyle said.
Investigators were happy to ride the Geelong officers' luck, he said.
"With any investigation, there's always some luck."
Tests will be done to see if the lots come from the same batch.
- AAP
