Australian authorities have charged five men in Sydney after a massive multi agency investigation seized money, guns and over one ton of MDMA powder the key ingredient for the narcotic ecstasy.
First discovered on Jan. 11, the Australian Border Force (ABF) detected anomalies in a shipping container that arrived from South Korea.
Upon further inspection of the 648 plastic tubes of tile adhesive, 176 tubs were found to contain a total of 1,053 kg of MDMA.
With the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and New South Wales (NSW) State Police Crime Command coming together to launch a joint operation, officers substituted the illicit drug for an inert substance and then delivered it to a storage facility where two people, who are alleged members of an international drug syndicate, eventually took possession of the shipment.
"This seizure is one of the largest in Australian history and the MDMA powder, if pressed into tablets, could have produced more than 3 million tablets," AFP Assistant Commissioner Eastern Command Justine Gough said on Wednesday.
"It demonstrates the lengths that organized crime syndicates will go to in order to supply the Australia market, and seek to protect their criminal profits with high powered illegal weapons."
Investigators said multiple meetings and alleged handovers of the substituted MDMA also took place with a 29 year old man, who is believed by police to be responsible for the distribution of the shipment to other crime groups in Sydney.
At other properties linked to the men, officers also seized 3 kilograms of methamphetamine, 250,000 Australian dollars (165,000 U.S. dollars) in cash, two loaded firearms including an automatic shotgun with a drum magazine and a Browning 9mm semi automatic pistol false identification material and ammunition.
Two other men aged 22 and 26 at the properties were charged with drug, firearms and proceeds of crime offences.
"ABF officers have sophisticated technology and unique skills at their disposal, which gives them the ability to identify illegal substances no matter how they are concealed," Australian Border Force Acting Commander of Investigations Garry Low said.
If found guilty, the maximum penalty for importing and distributing a border controlled substance under Australian law is life imprisonment. ■
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