Deep in the remote rainforests of south-western Cambodia, swathes of endangered trees are being felled by gangs of men wielding axes and chainsaws.
Hidden beneath the lush green canopy, vats of boiling water filled with chopped tree trunks and roots bubble up in an unctuous yellow soup.
These makeshift factories are manufacturing safrole, from sassafras oil, to supply a growing demand created by young British people 8,000 miles away.
This illicit industry, controlled by armed criminal gangs and poor Cambodian villagers eking out a living from the land, is the first important stage in the manufacture of the world’s most famous club drug — Ecstasy..Wa-hey!
Recent seizures of Ecstasy suggest that, following years of low levels of MDMA found in the drug, purity is rising to levels last found at the height of the rave music scene in the Nineties.
Earlier this summer, two men died in Ayrshire after taking Ecstasy tablets believed to be six times stronger than normal.
Hopes, however, that the war on Ecstasy was nearly over are sadly premature. In recent months, police seizures of Ecstasy have pointed at a resurgence of a devastatingly potent strain — and toxicological tests have found the percentage of MDMA in pills is on the increase.
It is this new batch of strong Ecstasy that is believed to have its origins in the rainforests of Cambodia.
The new batch in Britain is very good stuff. It’s hard to say No to, so get right on one matey!’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...culture-drug-deadlier-ever.html#ixzz1fggcPi4U
Hidden beneath the lush green canopy, vats of boiling water filled with chopped tree trunks and roots bubble up in an unctuous yellow soup.
These makeshift factories are manufacturing safrole, from sassafras oil, to supply a growing demand created by young British people 8,000 miles away.
This illicit industry, controlled by armed criminal gangs and poor Cambodian villagers eking out a living from the land, is the first important stage in the manufacture of the world’s most famous club drug — Ecstasy..Wa-hey!
Recent seizures of Ecstasy suggest that, following years of low levels of MDMA found in the drug, purity is rising to levels last found at the height of the rave music scene in the Nineties.
Earlier this summer, two men died in Ayrshire after taking Ecstasy tablets believed to be six times stronger than normal.
Hopes, however, that the war on Ecstasy was nearly over are sadly premature. In recent months, police seizures of Ecstasy have pointed at a resurgence of a devastatingly potent strain — and toxicological tests have found the percentage of MDMA in pills is on the increase.
It is this new batch of strong Ecstasy that is believed to have its origins in the rainforests of Cambodia.
The new batch in Britain is very good stuff. It’s hard to say No to, so get right on one matey!’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...culture-drug-deadlier-ever.html#ixzz1fggcPi4U
