Ingredients for one billion ecstasy pills seized in Netherlands by police

Netherlands is a hub for ecstasy manufacturing

The truck, as pictured by Zeeland police, contained 100 bottles of hydrogen gas (@Politie_Zeeland)

Dutch police say they have seized enough materials in a truck to make one billion ecstasy pills.

Officers said they found 100 canisters of hydrogen, 15 tons of caustic soda and 3,000 litres of other chemicals in a lorry around 50 miles south of Rotterdam.

Police say the haul, found in the village of Rilland close to the Belgium border, is worth several hundred thousand Euros.

The force said on Twitter: “Very large batch of raw materials found in trailer. Substances and truck are today still being drained.

“Commodities have commercial value of some €100,000 and in ecstasy laboratory are good for 1 billion pills. Very big catch!”

It is believed some of the chemicals were stolen, as the canisters of hydrogen gas found on board cannot be purchased publicly, according to Sky News.

The Independent has contacted police for more details, but no one has reportedly been arrested.

An estimated one in 20 young people use ecstasy each year, according to the Crime Survey of England and Wales.

A 19-year-old Manchester teenager, and a 16-year-old girl at a house party near Edinburgh, both died after taking ecstasy last year.

Around 360kg in cocaine, worth about £50m on the streets, washed up on a Norfolk beach today.