Italy Announces Seizure of 6.9 Tons of Drug Precursors From China

A Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel displays confiscated illegal drugs, known Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly refered to as ecstasy, at a press conference at the BOC headquarters in Manila, Philippines, on Sept. 14, 2016. Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images

Italian authorities have seized more than six tons of raw chemical materials shipped from China, which police believe could have been used to manufacture enough illicit narcotics to “flood” the European market.

Italian authorities announced on July 1 the seizure of 6.9 tons of chemicals from China, allegedly intended for the production of MDMA, a synthetic substance commonly known as ecstasy or molly, with an estimated value of more than 630 million euros ($678 million).

The seizure could have produced more than 63 million ecstasy pills, “a quantity capable of flooding the European synthetic drug market,” Italy’s Guardia di Finanza, a law enforcement agency that reports to the Finance Ministry, said in the statement.

Two Chinese nationals were arrested in the Netherlands, and an Italian businessman living in Milan has been placed under investigation, officials said.

According to the statement, Italy’s financial police intercepted a shipment at Milan’s Malpensa Airport during an inspection of goods. Lab analysis revealed the seized powder, initially claimed to be polyester powder coating, was actually PMK, a compound used to make ecstasy.

The shipment was initially destined for a company with a registered office in Milan, then redirected to a Dutch address, Italian police said.

International cooperation through Eurojust, a European judicial agency, facilitated further investigations in the Netherlands, according to the statement. Dutch authorities identified the final destination and seized several kilograms of ketamine and marijuana, with the arrest of two Chinese nationals.

Meanwhile, the Financial Police in the northern Italian city of Varese intercepted a second shipment containing more than 2,124 kilograms of BMK, used to produce amphetamines and methamphetamines, two of the most common illicit drugs in the European Union, it said.

Authorities also discovered another 4,213 kilograms of PMK at the importer’s warehouse.

In March, Italy launched a national plan to prevent misuse of synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, which can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

In the United States, the government and lawmakers have also sought to stop the flow of fentanyl into the nation; a drug they say has become the biggest killer of Americans aged 18 to 49.

A U.S. congressional report, released in April, alleges that China’s communist regime is directly funding the production of illegal opioid analogs, which are then shipped in large quantities to the United States.

Then-House Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) said the Chinese regime was promoting the illegal distribution of deadly drugs, with the intent of weakening and undermining the United States as a whole.

In June 2023, the Justice Department unsealed the first-ever charges against Chinese entities and nationals, accusing four chemical makers and eight Chinese nationals of trafficking precursor chemicals directly into the United States. Since then, dozens of Chinese entities and nations have been blacklisted by the Treasury Department as part of broader efforts to address the opioid crisis.

In October 2023, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against 28 individuals and entities involved in a network that smuggles foreign fentanyl into the United States.

The sanctioned 14 entities and 14 individuals are involved in the production and distribution of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and MDMA precursors, as well as trafficking potent drugs often mixed with fentanyl.

Most of the sanctioned parties are in China, while two entities and one individual are based in Canada.