Police in Algeciras have arrested two people and seized 1,500 kilos of ephedrine, the base drug used for the manufacture of methamphetamine.
The shipment arrived from China via several stopovers in European cities and was destined to be shipped on to Morocco and then to South America. Police found paperwork indicating that another shipment of 5,000 kilos of ephedrine from China was also being planned as was a 500 kilo shipment from Canada.
The two detainees are the owner and employee of a Spanish pharmaceutical import company based in Algeciras.
Ephedrine is subject to stringent control by national and international authorities since it is the main chemical used to manufacture amphetamine-type stimulants such as methamphetamine and approximately 1.5 kg of ephedrine is sufficient for making 1 kg of methamphetamine.