HAVANA, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Dominican Republic's anti-drug agents have seized a load of 1 million pseudo-ephedrine pills for the production of the synthetic drug ecstasy, the country's National Department of Drugs Control (DNCD) said on Sunday.

    The drugs were seized on Friday at the cargo terminal of Las Americas International Airport in the Dominican Republic, which were addressed to Guatemala as a shipment of cigars in a commercial airliner, said the DNCD in a communique.

    The DNCD said its agents had detained the drug senders, a couple and two employees, and were looking for more suspects.

    "It was an international network which used the Dominican Republic as a bridge to send these kinds of substances to Central America," DNCD chief General Rolando Rosado said.

    Ecstasy is a very popular and powerful drug used by low-income drug addicts and gangsters. Investigations are underway on the origin of the pills and how they were trafficked into the country.