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(CNN) - A middle-aged couple in Austria received a big surprise one morning when a package that allegedly contained dresses purchased online from a retailer in the Netherlands turned out to contain almost 25,000 ecstasy pills.
The unidentified Austrian woman, 58, confused the purple pills with decorative stones, police said, but at a closer inspection, her husband, 59, realized they were probably stimulants and returned the package to her Local post office in Linz, Upper Austria.
Ecstasy pills went to Scotland.
"The originally planned cozy breakfast ended quickly and, to the couple's horror, it turned out that, although one of the packages contained the two dresses, the second had 24,800 ecstasy pills worth € 500,000," a police statement said. from Upper Austria.
"The (post office) was equally astonished, that's why the police and, later, the narcotics department of the Linz City Police Command were informed."
READ: German police seize 5,000 ecstasy pills with Trump's face
According to the Austrian police, the 24,800 pills were worth around € 500,000 (US $ 550,000), although the Scottish Police told CNN that the probable value of drugs in the United Kingdom was around £ 165,000 ($ 205,000).
The Netherlands is one of the largest drug producers in the world and, earlier this year, Dutch customs authorities reported that the amount of ecstasy and amphetamines that were mailed had tripled from 137 kilograms (302 pounds) in 2016 to 460 kilograms in 2018.
Following an investigation by the Linz drug squad, it turned out that the package was destined for Scotland. The police in Scotland and the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the United Kingdom are jointly investigating the matter.
An NCA spokesman told CNN: "This is a live investigation, investigations are ongoing."
In July, police searched the facilities in Glasgow, Scotland, but no arrests were made.
Additional report by Christian Streib.
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