Algerian authorities said on Monday they had seized 1.65 million ecstasy pills and arrested nine suspects involved in an international "criminal network operating between Morocco and France."

Police said in a statement that the shipment was concealed in a truck arriving aboard a ship from the French port of Marseille.

The statement, carried by state television, said the drug haul was valued at around 4 billion dinars (nearly $30 million), describing it as "the largest quantity of such drugs ever seized in Africa."

Several vehicles and large sums of cash believed to be "proceeds from criminal activities" were also seized, the police said.

'Money laundering'

Authorities in the North African country did not specify whether those arrested were foreign nationals.

The suspects were referred to prosecutors on charges including "international drug trafficking within a cross-border criminal group" and "money laundering", according to the police statement.