Sodium hydroxide and plastic spoons are seen at a clandestine laboratory for synthetic drug processing in this May 24, 2011 file photo. (REUTERS/Alejandro Acosta/Files)

VANCOUVER - The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) seized 14 tonnes of precursor chemicals used to make meth, ecstasy and a date-rape drug in Prince Rupert, B.C., it was announced Wednesday.

The narcotic compounds -- a batch of four different chemicals split among 552 jugs -- were seized in September.

“This seizure has prevented the potential manufacture of thousands of kilograms of illegal drugs,” Dan Bubas of the CBSA Prince Rupert detachment said.

The shipment originated from China and was declared to authorities as glycerin, which can be used as a soothing agent in cough medicine, as a laxative or as a moisturizer.

No one was arrested, but the seizure marks the largest catch of precursors ever seized by the Prince Rupert branch.