Dealers `stockpiling ecstasy'

DRUG DEALERS are stockpiling huge quantities of ecstasy and other illegal substances to be sold at parties during the millennium celebrations, the National Criminal Intelligence Service said yesterday.

In the past two and a half months, customs officers have seized more ecstasy than in the whole of the past year.

Nick Wilson, head of the NCIS drug section, said: "As well as the marked rise in seizures, we have noticed a marked increase in the movement of the chemicals needed to manufacture these drugs. We are particularly concerned that young and impressionable party-goers might be tempted to indulge in these drugs for the first time."

So far this year, Customs and Excise has seized 886kg of ecstasy - with 325kg since October - compared with 250kg for 1998, most of it at Dover.