News

Drug worth over $750m

TWO men were arrested in Roselands where police allegedly found enough ephedrine to produce one tonne of methamphetamine, which would have a street value of around $750 million.

On September 10, a shipment declared as furniture was x-rayed by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers at the Sydney Container Examination facility and during the x-ray officers noted anomalies in the contents of the container.
A physical examination of the sea container revealed 127 boxes hidden behind a large amount of furniture.
The boxes were found to allegedly contain 1,266 kilograms of a brown substance.
Presumptive testing of the substance allegedly gave a positive result for ephedrine, a precursor used in the manufacture of the drug methamphetamine or ‘ice’.
Last Monday investigators conducted a managed delivery of the container to a warehouse in the suburb of Roselands.
Later that day, they alleged two males were observed accessing the container and were arrested.
Each has been charged with one count of Import Commercial Quantity of Border Controlled Precursor. 
One is a 63-year-old who is in Australia on a tourist visa. The other is a 22-year-old who is here on a student visa.
The men appeared in court and were remanded in custody to re-appear in the Downing Centre Court on November 13.
ABF Regional Commander for NSW, Danielle Yannopoulos, said the seizure had prevented approximately 10 million ‘hits’ of ice reaching the streets.
“ABF officers are constantly alert to attempts to conceal precursor drugs such as ephedrine, no matter how criminals try and hide them, we will find them,” Commander Yannopoulos said.