Police believe haul of 2.4m tablets is largest ever of the drug in Burma, a major producer of methamphetamine and heroin

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Burma's navy has seized about 2.4m ecstasy tablets hidden in a ship, a record haul of the drug in the country.

Police said the tablets were found on board a ship intercepted last week by the navy near the town of Kawthoung at the country's southern border with Thailand.

Police Brig Gen Kyaw Win, of the home affairs ministry's drug control committee, said on Monday the haul was believed to be the largest ever of the drug in Burma, which is a major producer of both heroin and methamphetamine.

"We are surprised that the number of tablets seized is that big," he said, adding that the vessel also contained about 90 tonnes of timber that was thought to be illicit.

He said each tablet was estimated to be worth up to 80,000 kyats (£50) on the streets of Rangoon – which would make the total value nearly £120m – but that the haul was likely destined for other countries where the price could be different.

"It's important because if it wasn't seized, it will get to Malaysia then to US and other countries. It's expensive and the amount is also high. It's dangerous wherever it reaches," Kyaw Win said.

He said the largest previous haul of ecstasy was in 2005 when 50,000 tablets were seized.

Burma is the world's second largest opium producer after Afghanistan and south-east Asia's biggest synthetic drug-maker, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which has warned that criminal activity threatens the nation's stability.

Drugs production in the country's war-torn borderlands has surged in recent years, particularly the manufacture of methamphetamine tablets in hidden jungle laboratories.

To mark World Drugs Day in June, Burma burned seized drugs worth around £78m, including 1.3 tonnes of opium, 225kg of heroin and 1.2 tonnes of methamphetamine tablets.