Bucket of ecstasy found in BMW
By Kate Cox
June 30 2002
The Sun-Herald
Two men faced a Sydney court yesterday after ecstasy powder worth more than $8 million was found in their car.
Parramatta Court was told self-employed businessman Peter Pangallo, 33, and 24-year-old builder Robert Ibrahim were stopped in a late-model white BMW at Bass Hill, near Fairfield, on Friday afternoon.
Behind the driver's seat was a large white bucket containing white powder with a strong acidic smell - later found to be 8.41kg of high-quality ecstasy powder, with a potential street value of about $8.4 million.
The men were charged with the commercial supply of a prohibited substance.
The court was told that the large frame of Pangallo was cramped against the steering wheel to accommodate the sealed bucket, and Ibrahim was a passenger. Pangallo claimed his friend asked him to drive the car and he had no knowledge of the drugs behind his seat. His friend, he said, had told him that was the way the seat was.
The men were represented separately in Parramatta Court yesterday.
Both were denied bail and will appear in Burwood Court tomorrow. If convicted, they face jail terms of up to 20 years.
Love the image of the guy pushed up against the steering wheel - "there's a bucket of *what* behind my seat officer?"...