Guatemala City, Feb 23 (IANS/EFE) Guatemalan drug enforcement agents seized some 160,000 pseudoephedrine tablets in a warehouse at the capital’s La Aurora International Airport, but no arrests were made, the police said.
The tablets were found at a warehouse belonging to Conbex, a company that imports and exports a variety of products.

A manifest shows that the pseudoephedrine arrived in Guatemala from Bangladesh via Panama and Mexico, the National Civilian Police, or PNC, said.

The tablets were going to a pharmaceutical company that police did not identify.

Police also seized about 15 kg of a chemical compound used to make synthetic drugs.

Guatemala banned the import and sale of pseudoephedrine in February 2009.

Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are used to manufacture methamphetamine, an illegal stimulant.

The pseudoephedrine is smuggled from Guatemala into Mexico, the PNC said, adding that the drugs were worth $308,000.

This was the third pseudoephedrine seizure this year at Conbex’s warehouses, but no arrests have been made.

Police seized 700,000 pseudoephedrine tablets Jan 4 and 100,000 tablets Feb 10 at the Conbex warehouses.

During 2009, according to government figures, the security forces seized about 10,630 kg of pseudoephedrine worth $19.1 million.

–IANS/EFE

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