Authorities Ecstatic over Champagne Drug Bust

Customs officers in France found more than happiness in two Champagne bottles last week: they found pure ecstasy.

Two officers stopped a car on the A31 highway near Dijon in Burgundy for a regular vehicle check and noticed two bottles of Champagne on the floor at the passenger’s feet. On closer inspection, the liquid inside did not look like sparkling wine and was seized for analysis.

A more thorough check of the vehicle unearthed more than a kilo (2.2lbs) of amphetamines hidden under the spare wheel.

The drugs, with a street value of around 90,000 euros ($123,000), were discovered in a car with Austrian registration plates, driven by two Italians.

Analysis, done in a customs laboratory in Strasbourg, confirmed on Monday that the bottles were filled with a liquid form of MDMA, or ecstasy. According to Denis Moulinier, the head of the Burgundy customs office, it is the first time that ecstasy in liquid form has been seized in France.


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