A record-breaking 252 kilograms of pink cocaine destined for Sydney’s streets has been seized by police, with a 21-year-old man arrested in Coogee for allegedly trying to import the dangerous new party drug.
Australian Federal Police were in October alerted to an international drug syndicate with plans to import the brightly coloured drug bricks branded with the Pink Panther character. Officers found the drugs stashed inside an air cargo consignment addressed to Castle Hill and labelled as an industrial saw.
The AFP has charged the man for his alleged involvement in a plot to import 252kg of pink cocaine.Credit: AFP
Pink cocaine, also known as tusi, rarely if ever actually includes any cocaine. Instead, it’s a cocktail of drugs and can include ketamine, MDMA and the synthetic psychedelic 2C-B.
A toxicology report delivered after One Direction star Liam Payne’s death in Argentina indicated the singer had taken the drug. A complainant against Sean “Diddy” Combs claims it was the rapper’s go-to party drug.
After federal police seized the drugs in October this year, they let the empty container be delivered to its Castle Hill destination on November 6, where a Matraville man allegedly attempted to receive it.
Police allege when the 21-year-old realised the drugs were missing, he fled to Coogee, where he was later arrested and charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an imported drug.
He was refused bail at Downing Centre Local Court on November 7. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
AFP Acting Superintendent Stuart Millen said there has been an increase in detections of pink cocaine in Australia. The force had seized 130 kilograms of the drug this year before this record-breaking bust.
“We cannot overstate the community harm this importation would have caused if it had not been intercepted by authorities before hitting our streets,” he said.
The pink colour of the drugs is nothing more than a “marketing ploy”, Millen said. More data is needed to know the general street value of the drug. However, Millen said pink cocaine fetches around $150,000 per kilogram wholesale according to global trends.
That means this seizure would have an estimated wholesale value of $37.8 million.
Police believe the man was working within a criminal group and expect to make more arrests connected to the attempted import.
Given how new the drug is and the fact that it is made up of a cocktail of drugs, it’s difficult to know just how popular pink cocaine has become in Australia.
Drug testing facilities have detected it in Canberra and Brisbane. In both instances, the powder was sold to users as the psychedelic 2C-B, but lab analysis found the drugs included ketamine and MDMA instead.
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