Biggest Australian meth busts of 2025 so far and how cartels are trying to smuggle drugs in
Australia is being swamped with record meth imports as organised crime syndicates smuggle the drug in bizarre hiding spots — but police are striking back.
Meth is pouring into the country in record amounts, hidden in everything from crane parts to fabric rolls as authorities fight to keep the drug off Australian streets.
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s latest wastewater report revealed a sharp 34 per cent rise in consumption of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA in 2024 compared to the previous year, with meth alone making up the vast majority of the $11.5 billion street market.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force say organised crime syndicates are exploiting international shipping routes and hiding drugs inside everyday goods, from construction materials to fabric rolls.
We take a look at some of the biggest meth busts so far this year.
390KG HIDDEN INSIDE CRANE PARTS
An Iranian national faced court on 18 August charged over his alleged role to import 390kg of methamphetamine into Australia.
The 61-year-old was accused of planning and coordinating an operation that involved hiding 390kg of meth - with a street value of more than $360 million - inside crane parts in a shipment from Iran to Sydney.
AFP launched an investigation in June 2025, after the Australian Border Force identified a suspicious shipping consignment that arrived in Sydney from Iran.
The three shipping containers were carrying yellow-coloured, metal crane structures.
Investigators found plastic pipes and packages concealed inside the crane structures, allegedly containing a crystalline substance, which was later confirmed to be methamphetamine.
The Iranian national had arrived in Australia from Hamburg, Germany, on 25 June, 2025, before police alleged he started planning to take possession of the consignment.
He was arrested on August 17 after AFP officers executed a search warrant at a property in Quakers Hill, along with a rental car hired by the man.
He was remanded in custody and will next appear in court on October 15, 2025.
If convicted, he faces life in prison.
600KG STASHED INSIDE FABRIC ROLLS
Three men have been charged for allegedly trying to import $555 million worth of methamphetamine into Brisbane inside rolls of fabric.
Tony Nguyen, 30, Martin Nguyen, 24, and Brendan Ky, 22, were arrested at a Bowen Hills warehouse on July 14, 2025 over an alleged plot to import 597kg of meth in a shipping container.
But police will allege the Sydney men - who they had been surveilling for months - could be part of a larger syndicate who were conducting their first attempt to smuggle drugs into the country from Thailand.
AFP Detective Superintendent Adrian Telfer said it was one of the biggest meth seizures they’d seen in Queensland.
ABF officers in Queensland intercepted a sea cargo consignment from Thailand on 4 July, 2025, after it had arrived into the Port of Brisbane.
They found 597kg of meth wrapped inside 200 rolls of fabric in eight wooden crates declared as ‘UV protective fabrics’.
The consignment was delivered to a warehouse on Thompson St in Bowen Hills - which police allege the men had rented - where they were allegedly waiting nearby.
Police will allege Tony Nguyen and Ky started to unravel the rolls of fabric while Martin Nguyen drove to Bunnings to buy an electronic scale to weigh the meth they were expecting to find.
ALLEGED IRANIAN ORGANISED CRIMINALS’ 110kg PLOT
Three men with alleged links to Iranian organised crime were charged with allegedly importing boxes fabricated out of methamphetamine.
A Melbourne man, 40, a Baulkham Hills man, 41, and a Telopea man, 46, each face life in prison, if convicted.
They landed in hot water when the Australian Border Force in February intercepted an air cargo shipment suspected to contain the illicit drugs, which were sent from southwest Asia.
It was alleged the shipment contained hip flasks in 400 boxes that were allegedly manufactured from methamphetamine.
Inside was 110kg of methamphetamine with a street value of about $101,750,000 and which could have been potentially sold as 1,100,000 individual street deals.
Police removed the drugs before delivering the consignment, which was allegedly accepted by the Telopea man on 18 February, 2025.
Investigators then identified him as an alleged member of an Iranian organised crime syndicate.
AFP investigators monitored the 46-year-old as he went to a shopping centre in Sydney’s west where it was alleged he met with other alleged members of the Iranian syndicate.
21KG HAUL FROM PORTABLE POWER STATIONS
A Hunter Valley man was caught for allegedly trying to import 21kg of meth into Australia from Spain.
The 37-year-old, who allegedly had links to an organised crime group, was charged with attempting to import commercial quantities of border-controlled drugs.
AFP officers started an investigation on 15 January, 2025, over a suspicious consignment that had arrived via sea cargo.
Police dogs searched the cargo where about 21kg of methamphetamine was found hidden inside several individually-wrapped packages.
The stash had an estimated street value of about $19 million and could have been sold as about 210,000 individual street deals.
Investigators facilitated a controlled delivery of the consignment to its intended address in Bulga, in the NSW Hunter Valley, where it was alleged the 37-year-old took possession of it.
32 TONNES OF METH-LACED WAX DESTINED FOR AUSTRALIA
A Melbourne man was charged for allegedly trying to import meth infused in paraffin wax into Australia.
The charges laid against the 31-year-old under Taskforce Tiger, was formalised in late 2024 between the AFP and Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) and targets drug trafficking between Australia and Malaysia.
Police intercepted two shipping containers and seized 166 drums containing paraffin wax which weighed about 32 tonnes.
The wax, which was destined for Australia, allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine.
police removed the drugs with the consignment continuing on to Port Botany, Sydney, arriving on 24 February, 2025.
Then, on March 11, half of the consignment consisting of 88 drums was redirected to a warehouse in Rowville, Victoria.
Investigators delivered the consignment on March 13 where police will allege the Endeavour Hills man took possession of it before he was then arrested.
LAB DISMANTLED, 100KG OF METH SEIZED
AFP dismantled a clandestine lab in Sydney’s west in June this year and seized over 100kg of methamphetamine products as part of an ongoing investigation into a criminal syndicate.
The investigation dates back to October 2023 after the US Customs and Border Protection agency detected 27kg of methamphetamine destined for Australia stashed inside blankets from South America.
Police will allege the blankets were saturated with the methamphetamine and had an estimated Australian street value of $25 million.
Investigators then linked the consignment to a phone number, which was allegedly linked to additional importation attempts previously thwarted by Australian Border Force.
In April last year, investigators executed a search warrant at a property linked to the US consignment in Cabramatta where two devices were located by police and linked to the attempted import.
Another search warrant was executed at a Canley Vale property, where police located a dedicated encrypted communication device.
Investigators then identified a third address in Fairfield East allegedly used by the syndicate.
On 19 June, 2025, investigators then searched a Fairfield East home and discovered a clandestine laboratory.
350KG OF METH SEIZED IN SYDNEY
Police seized 350kg, worth an estimated $323 million, from a shipping container after it arrived in Port Botany, NSW, from the Middle East in April this year.
Investigators found the meth hidden inside 35 specially manufactured metal pipes.
The AFP seized the drugs and allowed the container to be delivered to an address in Kemps Creek, NSW, where the container has remained.
It is believed the business profile and details of a legitimate company were used for the importation in a bid to evade law enforcement.
An investigation is still underway to find the criminal syndicate responsible for the importation.
$7.6M METH SEIZED FROM ALLEGED SECRET LAB
NSW police seized about 76kg of methylamphetamine, worth an estimated $7.6 million, from an alleged secret lab at a home in Heathcote, western Sydney, on August 20.
Officers also found items used to manufacture prohibited drugs including precursor chemicals.
A 48-year-old man was arrested and charged with nine drug-related offences including supplying prohibited drugs in commercial quantities.
The man was refused bail and is due to appear in court on October 21.
