MDMA worth $57m seized in police sting
ENOUGH MDMA to make 1.7 million ecstasy pills has been found in large meat mincers ordered from Turkey and allegedly destined for a western Sydney butcher.
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ENOUGH MDMA to make 1.7 million ecstasy pills has been found in large meat mincers ordered from Turkey and allegedly destined for a western Sydney butcher.
Three men — a 24-year-old from Coogee, a Guildford 27-year-old and a 29-year-old from Lidcombe — have been arrested over the seizure, worth an estimated $57 million on the street.
Australian Border Force officers stopped a shipping container at Port Botany on September 28 — it was loaded with chocolate biscuits, air freshener and four industrial mincing machines used to make sausages.
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They discovered 248 packages of what they allege was MDMA in the door cavities of the mincer machines.
Forensic specialists from Australian Federal Police were called in, seizing the MDMA and replacing it with an “inert” decoy substance.
The container was then allowed to be delivered to the Auburn supermarket it was addressed to.
AFP investigators allege the mincing machines were removed from the container at the supermarket and taken to a warehouse in Clyde, which was linked to a butchery business.
They do not believe the supermarket proprietors knew about the shipment, or that its everyday items were being used to disguise a mass drug importation.
On October 6, AFP and ABF arrested the three men during raids in Clyde.
Police labelled the importation a “sophisticated concealment”.
“Chocolate biscuits, air freshener and detergents so there was a whole range of things to try and disguise it” ABF Commander Garry Low said.
“We’ve had a whole range of ways that they’re disguised, we’ve had milking machines for cows we’ve had car parts we’ve had all sort of things.”
AFP Detective Superintendent Kirsty Schofield alleged it was an “international” crime.
“What we do know is these three men were working as part of a larger group,” Supt Schofield said.
She said police were looking at “family associations” of the butcher business.
“But I don’t want to speculate further due to ongoing inquiries,” she said.
The Guildford man was charged with both importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug. The other two men were charged only with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.
Each faced court and were denied bail on Sunday and are due back in court this month.