Four Australian men have been charged with attempting to import more than 100 kilograms of methamphetamine (ice) and 500 kilograms of cocaine. Investigators said the ice, worth more than $50 million, was found in Mexico and was supposed to be transported to Australia by shipping container on 14th September, with an ETA in Sydney on 2nd November. They later uncovered plans to send cocaine, worth $150 million, from Colombia in a similar way.
Police said the organised crime environment in Australia is now part of a transnational network, noting that modern-day trade and transport brings a certain sophistication to illegal imports. Drug traffickers consider themselves as businessmen rather than gang members and are more likely to be wielding technology than guns. Â Australians are now easily able to tap into the world supply. Importers of illicit goods are becoming increasingly responsive and resilient to law enforcement interventions and tactics to disrupt and dismantle the involvement of organised crime.
Though these drugs were sourced from Mexico and Colombia, this was an Australian conspiracy. NSW Police said the arrests come after a nine-month joint investigation with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Mexican Federal Police and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.
Three men appeared in a Sydney court while another was remanded in custody in Adelaide Magistrates Court today (Friday 3rd November). All four have been accused of likely working with drug cartels to smuggle large quantities of ice and cocaine into the country from Mexico and Colombia.
In related news, the Department of Immigration and Border Patrol has released their annual report showing that in 2016-17 they confiscated undeclared goods including 2,000 firearms, 200 million cigarettes and seven tonnes of illegal drugs.
