Customs officials seized 8.7 kilograms of ecstasy concealed in suitcase with a street value of $2.5 million

Three Israeli men have been sentenced for trying to smuggle millions of dollars worth of the drug MDMA, or ecstasy, into New Zealand at the start of the year.

They arrived at Auckland International Airport from Singapore on 3 January, where X-ray machines discovered packs of MDMA crystals hidden under wooden false bottoms of their suitcases.

Victor Borisenko, Vladislav Pischako and Guy Shalom, all aged in their mid-twenties, were convicted for importing a Class B controlled drug and each sentenced to eight years and three months in prison.

The 8.7kg of the drug, with a purity level of 77 per cent, was estimated to have a street value of up to $3.6 million.

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