Australian and U.S. authorities have seized more than 1.7 tonnes of methylamphetamine (ice) – equal to more than 17 million drug deals and an estimated street value of $1.29 billion - the largest ever shipment bound for Australia and the largest ever domestic seizure in the U.S.
Officers from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Victoria Police yesterday arrested six people in Victoria and NSW allegedly involved with the U.S.-based organised crime syndicate being investigated behind the record-making shipment.
The investigation was commenced as a result of intelligence gathered by the Victorian Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (JOCTF) about a planned large-scale drug importation by a suspected syndicate operating out of California.
The Victorian JOCTF comprises the AFP, Victoria Police, the Australian Border Force (ABF), the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and the Department of Home Affairs. The Victorian JOCTF enlisted the support of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations Border Enforcement Security Task Force (HSI BEST)*, which located a consignment suspected of containing illicit drugs before it left American shores.
As a result, the HSI BEST and U.S. Customs and Border Protection detected more than 1.7 tonnes of various illicit drugs – largely methylamphetamine – inside two large containers purporting to contain audio equipment.
The drugs were seized in California by U.S. authorities on 9 January 2019 before they could reach Australian shores.
The shipment included the following drugs, with their respective estimated street values based on their value if they had reached Australia:
• 1,728 kilograms of methylamphetamine, estimated to be worth more than AUD $1.29 billion and equal to more than 17 million drug deals.
• 25 kilograms of cocaine, worth an estimated AUD $9.5 million.
• 5 kilograms of heroin, worth an estimated AUD $2.6 million.
The previous record seizure of methylamphetamine bound for Australia was 1.3 tonnes, seized in Western Australia by the WA Joint Organised Crime Task Force in December 2017. … read more