ABOUT $205 million worth of methamphetamine and two people were charged after raids across Melbourne this week, including Narre Warren.
In March, Customs and Border Protection officers targeted a shipping container for examination. In April, the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) provided further intelligence which indicated the container was high risk.
Customs and Border Protection officers, acting on breakthrough criminal intelligence provided by the ACC examined the container which had arrived at the port of Melbourne from Hong Kong, containing 46 pallets.
The pallets held about 3330 bottles of carpet stain cleaner. Further examination revealed 96 of the bottles contained methamphetamine suspended in liquid, totalling about 365 litres.
On 8 April, two people were arrested for importing and attempting to possess the methamphetamine after the Australian Federal Police (AFP) with Victoria Police, Customs and Border Protection and the ACC, conducted a controlled delivery.
Search warrants were subsequently executed across Melbourne on Tuesday which included residential properties in Kew, Box Hill, Clayton South, Footscray and Noble Park. Further search warrants were executed in Narre Warren on Wednesday.
It is estimated that the 365 litres of liquid methamphetamine would equate to 280kg of pure methamphetamine, with a total street value of up to $205 million.
A 45-year-old Hong Kong national and a 31-year-old Canadian national were arrested and faced Melbourne Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 10 April. They were charged with a range of offences including importing a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs, namely amphetamine, and the attempted possession of a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border controlled drug, namely amphetamine. The maximum penalty for these offences is life imprisonment and/or a $1,275,000 fine.
The investigation is continuing both in Australia and overseas, and further arrests have not been ruled out.
As the investigation remains ongoing, the AFP could not comment further at this stage.
Victoria Police Detective Superintendent Gerard Ryan said the results of the operation demonstrated the benefits of law enforcement agencies working together in the state, national and international arena.
“This operation is a prime example of a united law enforcement approach to tackling organised crime drug importations into Australia,” Det Supt Ryan said.
