21kg of ice allegedly from Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel seized in Sydney
A blood thirsty drug cartel linked to mass murder in Mexico has had their operations allegedly disrupted in Sydney. See the photos.
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A Mexican drug cartel’s operations in Australia allegedly have been hit with the seizure of 21kg of ice in Sydney.
The US Drug Enforcement Agency and the Australian Federal Police have been targeting the blood thirsty Sinaloa crime gang’s network here.
The Sinaloa cartel is one of Mexico’s most notorious crime groups – they were also linked to the murder of 19 people whose bodies were this week found stacked up in the tray of an abandoned truck.
The Australian Federal Police arrested a 20-year-old man on Sydney’s northern beaches last month for possession of the 21kg of ice allegedly supplied by the Sinaloa cartel as part of Operation Clover.
Police will allege Julian Litini-Privitero was one of two men who collected meth at Freshwater inside two duffel bags containing the drugs.
His case was briefly mentioned in the Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday where his lawyer Ibrahim Sweden asked for it to be adjourned.
Latini-Privitero is facing one count of possessing a commercial quantity of meth which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty. No plea has been entered. He will remain behind bars on remand.
There is no suggestion he was a member of the Sinaloa cartel.
Mexican cartels have been increasingly targeting Australia with cut price ice following disruption to crime networks in Asia’s golden triangle.
Australian drug networks can buy Mexican ice for $1000 a kilogram, compared with between $3000 and $5000 a kilogram from Asia.
The United States DEA Asia Pacific Division, which has offices in Canberra and Sydney, says on its website that Mexican cartels are “aggressively expanding their operations in Asia.”
The AFP confirmed it was working with the DEA to investigate a “transnational drug trafficking syndicate targeting Australia”.
AFP Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy said “the illegal and harmful drugs that organised crime syndicates import into Australia make our communities less safe”.
“The use of illegal substances causes immeasurable harm on users and their families,” she said.
“Territorial drug disputes spill into suburbs and put innocent people at risk, drug-affected drivers are a menace on the roads all in the name of profit for organised crime syndicates.
“That is why the AFP works closely with law enforcement and intelligence partners locally and internationally to disrupt these groups that seek to harm Australians and profit at the expense of our communities.”
The Mexican cartel wars have led to increasing bloodshed there, including the shocking discovery of the 19 bodies on the truck in La Concordia, in the southern state of Chiapas, near its border with Guatemala.
At least six of the victims had Guatemalan identity papers.
The Sinaloa Cartel has been at war with the Cartel of Mexico and Guatemala, which are linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), over control of drug smuggling in the area.
More than 400,000 people have been murdered in Mexico since 2006, including Australian surfers Jake and Callum Robinson.
The Brothers were shot dead in April following an attempt to steal the wheels off their rental car while they were surfing in a remote part of Mexico in Baja.
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