AFP tip-off after Sydney drug import uncovers global drug empire

The Australian Federal Police have secretly helped bring down a multimillion-dollar drug empire trafficking tonnes of meth and cocaine to Australia from the suburbs and slums of Manila.

The Australian Federal Police have secretly helped bring down a multimillion-dollar drug empire trafficking tonnes of meth and cocaine to Australia from the suburbs and slums of Manila.

The story of the arrest of a Frenchman, Canadian and Filipino in the Philippines last month can only now be told after their properties were raided by armed police thanks to an AFP tip-off.

The trio are alleged to have been quietly been importing 1.5 tonnes of meth and 450kg of cocaine here over 18 months before police ended their operation.

The drugs were secretly seized by the AFP when it arrived in Sydney hidden in industrial machinery, stopping as many as 15 million street deals as a result.

Police will allege the trio used one main home as a base and two others hidden in the slums to run a global drug syndicate that had its eyes on the Australian market and links to Mexican drug cartels.

Frenchman Aurelian Cythere was arrested at the

Police in the Philippines will allege they were undone thanks to intel from the Australian Federal Police.

From there Frenchman Aurelian Cythere, 41, Filipino Mark Sayarot 42, and Canadian Ariana Golesorkhi, 33, are accused of running the operation until heavily armed police swarmed their properties last month.

“Organised crime groups may think they can avoid police scrutiny when they operate across multiple countries – but they are wrong,” AFP’s Manila-based Superintendent Andrew Perkins said.

Cythere, when he was arrested with drugs located in the Manilla lab.

He is facing a maximum penalty of life in jail if convicted.

Mark Sayarot was also arrested at the same home.

“This operation again highlights how law enforcement agencies share intelligence across borders to cause maximum damage to these transnational criminal networks. The Australian Federal Police has members in 33 countries around the world and we will continue to use our international networks to ensure drug syndicates do not profit at the expense of our communities.”

Stunning images taken from the raids show French national Cythere being led around the property in Manila, directing officers around the lab operation.

The drugs secretly seized by the Australian Federal Police.

They allege they were imported into Sydney by the three men in Manilla.

Other images show his two alleged partners in the syndicate sitting among microphones and the media while police search the property.

A Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency spokesman said: “We will allege this group was manufacturing methamphetamine in a residential neighbourhood without any regard for the welfare of children and adults living nearby.

Police uncovered 20kg of drugs in the raids.

The trio were hiding in plain sight near children, police in the Philippines said.

“We will not allow the Philippines to be a safe haven for criminals; we are working with our international partners to make our country a hostile place for anyone involved in the illicit drug trade.”

The men have been charged in the Philippines with one count each of manufacturing and possessing drugs as well as possessing drug-making equipment.

The most serious of those charges carries a penalty of life in jail.

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