An Australian man bought enough sassafras oil to make 1900 ecstasy tablets on eBay, an Adelaide court has heard. Wayne Peter Bahnisch bought the oil from a Canadian eBay seller: it has a number of legitimate uses, and Bahnisch claimed he wanted to use it as massage oil. His lawyer said that “he thought, wrongly, that because you could purchase it on eBay it was legal to do so.” He did, nevertheless, as the seller to label the package just “massage oil”, not “sassafras oil”.
When questioned by customs officers, the unfortunate Bahnisch made a full confession but was unable to hand over the oil as it was among items stolen from his flat during two robberies. He pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally attempting to import a prohibited item, and will be sentenced next month.
It’s salutory reminder that eBay is a bad place to buy anything illegal: the records are there for the world to see.