US$895m seizure of drugs from China
Print Edition
IN a joint operation with China, authorities in Australia have seized A$1.25 billion (US$895 million) worth of liquid methamphetamine, or “ice” — their largest haul of illicit drugs in years.
Four Chinese nationals, three of them from Hong Kong, have been charged over their alleged role in the importation and manufacture of 720 liters of the drug, which were hidden inside gel bra inserts and art supplies.
The drugs were seized at several locations in Sydney, including a shipping container sent from Hong Kong, officials said yesterday.
“This is the largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine in Australia’s history and one of the largest drug seizures in our country’s history,” Justice Minister Michael Keenan told reporters in Sydney.
He said the seizure was the result of a joint investigation between Australian authorities and the Chinese National Narcotics Control Commission.
Australian Federal Police Commander Chris Sheehan said the operation began in December when the Australian Border Force examined a shipping container in Sydney. “That shipping container was found to contain gel bra inserts and hidden inside those gel bra inserts was 190 liters of liquid methamphetamine,” he said.
The seizure was referred to the Australian Federal Police who began an investigation that found a further 530 liters of the drug in storage units being used for art supplies, he added.
Keenan told reporters: “This has resulted in 3.6 million individual hits of ice being taken off our streets.”
He added: “This largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine to date is the result of organized criminals, targeting the lucrative Australian ice market from offshore.”
In January, a 33-year-old Hong Kong man was arrested and charged in connection with the original seizure.
A further two Hong Kongers, a 37-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman, along with a 59-year-old man from China’s mainland, were also seized and charged with knowingly taking part in the manufacture of a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
“We are alleging that the people we have arrested weren’t just mere bit-players, they were significant players within this criminal network,” said Sheehan.
The joint operation was the first combined effort between Chinese and Australian authorities to target the booming ice market. The two sides are co-operating to gather intelligence relating to concealment methods, trafficking routes and syndicates that move meth from southeast China to Australia.
“This critical international cooperation is already paying significant intelligence dividends,” said Keenan.
The raid comes months after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull unveiled a A$300 million strategy to combat the growing use of ice, in the wake of a government report that revealed Australia had proportionally more users than most countries.
The report showed that the use of the drug had doubled since 2007 to more than 200,000 people in 2013.
An Australian Crime Commission report last year found that while US$80 bought one gram of ice in China, users in Australia had to pay US$500 for the same amount.
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