The largest drug hauls prevented from reaching Victorian streets in 2023
From cocaine hidden inside surfboards to meth stuffed in rotting raw cow hides and vinegar bottles, more than 6000kgs have been discovered before they hit Victorian streets in 2023.
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More than 6000kg of the deadliest drugs will not reach Victorian streets after Australian authorities conducted more than two dozen raids across the state.
Of the biggest police discoveries in 2023, methamphetamine was the most popular drug illegally smuggled into Victoria, in line with the state’s usage of the dangerous substance.
Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said Victoria had seen increased drug smuggling in recent years because of the growing demand for illicit drugs.
“There are huge profits to be made by exporting and importing cocaine into Australia, and Victoria, because people are paying double and triple times what they’d pay offshore for the same drug, and so people are prepared to take risks,” he said.
“Escalation in smuggling is a response to escalating demand.”
Drugs confiscated by the authorities in 2023 included packages concealed in consignments shipped by sea and by air.
Mr Watson-Munro said drug smugglers used “innovation and creativity” to get illegal substances into Australia.
“The most desirable thing for smugglers is to get the largest quantity of drugs in a protected way, and ships are a good thing because drugs can be swept under the hulls of ships,” he said.
This is done, he said, by “welding onto little containers at the bottom of the ship”.
Mr Watson-Munro said smugglers also often tried to fly drugs into Australia from the northern hemisphere via New Guinea.
The people who fell into drug smuggling were vulnerable members of the community often riddled by financial pressures, he said.
“Times are tough for people, and it tends to be a financial vulnerability. People are sometimes recruited to smuggle drugs from casinos where they have a gambling addiction and run up a huge tab. And then they’re given a tap on the shoulder and asked to pay the debt or work for them,” he said.
Peer group dynamics also played a significant role in people falling prey to smuggling.
“If you lie with dogs, you catch fleas, and so people get seduced into criminal activity because of the promise of wealth. Often younger people get seduced by what they see and observe with organised criminals like driving around in Mercedes (or having) unencumbered homes (with) no mortgage,” he said.
Another reason people got into smuggling drugs was addiction, which lead them to financial pressure, said Mr Watson-Munro.
“Often drug addiction leads to people owing their dealers significant amounts of money because they get it on credit, and eventually, the dealers tell them to pay up or threaten their family. And so they’re motivated by fear and a strong desire to get out of debt,” he said.
Mr Watson-Munro said better education and insight into the consequences of drug smuggling was the first step in tackling its prevalence in Victoria.
“Often, these people live in a delusional world, a fantasy world where they think they're so above the law, or they’ll never be caught. The reality is the cooperation between law enforcement agencies in Australia and offshore is making it more likely that you will be caught,” he said.
An Australian Federal Police spokeswoman said Australia remained a lucrative target for transnational serious organised crime because Australians were among the highest per capita users of illicit drugs — particularly methamphetamine and cocaine — and were “willing to pay high prices”.
“Criminals will try any method to import drugs into Australia, that is why the AFP is working closely with partners to monitor known drug transit routes, such as freight and mail,” she said.
The offshore disruption of criminal groups and infiltration of organised crime was a key part of AFP’s role and “part of the solution”, the spokeswoman said.
“Criminal syndicates involved in drug importations do not care about the harm they cause to Australian communities — from the violence between rival dealers that put innocent communities at risk, to the drug driving crashes and the thousands of methamphetamine related hospital admissions,” she said.
BIGGEST DRUG BUST IN VICTORIA THIS YEAR
Cocaine through the water pumps
St Kilda man charged for importing 24kg of cocaine concealed in a consignment of water pumps.
A 34-year-old St Kilda man allegedly imported 24kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $10m into Melbourne from Greece.
Australian Border Force (ABF) detected illicit drugs concealed within an air cargo consignment of water pumps.
The investigators then, with assistance from Victoria Police’s VIPER Task Force conducted a controlled delivery to an address in Melbourne and executed a search warrant at a St Kilda residence where the man was arrested and charged.
Meth in white vinegar bottles
Melbourne man with alleged links to Middle Eastern organised crime charged over the alleged importation of 500L of methamphetamine.
Fawkner man Elias Hamwi, 43, was arrested after ABF officers allegedly found illicit drugs concealed in a shipping container of food products.
Mr Hamwi is facing multiple drugs charges after he was caught allegedly importing about 500L of meth in vinegar bottles.
The officers found anomalies in plastic barrels of white vinegar imported into Melbourne from Turkey on February 8 this year.
The vinegar bottles, which were packaged in a larger shipment of food products originally sent from northern Iraq to Turkey before arriving in Melbourne, tested positive for methamphetamine.
AFP officers found 25 barrels of the consignment each containing 20L of liquid meth with an estimated street value of $41.6m.
Mr Hamwi is currently on bail.
Meth in furniture
Melbourne man hoodwinked after police swapped 360kg of meth for rock salt.
Dale Williams, 40, will spend at least 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to attempting to possess a massive haul of drugs.
Williams, considered one of the biggest scalps in Operation Ironside’s “sting of the century”, was nabbed after federal police seized crystal methamphetamine – hidden in furniture containers shipped from Malaysia — and switched it for rock salt in 2020.
The AFP executed a search warrant at the Patterson Lakes man’s residence and seized several electronic devices, cash and luxury watches in 2021.
Intelligence gained as a result of Operation Ironside presented the AFP with significant evidence to arrest and charge Williams in connection to the 2020 drug importation on June 7, 2021.
In 2023, Williams was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment backdated to his arrest, with a non-parole period of 10 years and six months.
Six men charged for attempting to traffic $1.7bn worth of meth to Australia
More than $1.7bn of meth stopped from hitting Victorian streets by AFP and Victoria Police Joint Organised Crime Taskforce and Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group partners.
Methamphetamine destined for Victoria and NSW, would have amounted to almost 19 million individual street deals before it was stopped by authorities.
The AFP and Victoria Police executed eight search warrants across Melbourne’s CBD and western suburbs.
It’s alleged the two men from Melbourne’s CBD, were involved in facilitating one of the four alleged attempted methamphetamine imports.
In latest attempts in January this year Canadian authorities alerted the AFP that 2900L of liquid methamphetamine were contained in 180 bottles of canola oil and destined for Australia.
It had an estimated street value of $720m.
The three men, aged 28, 26 and 19, are alleged to have been operating a clandestine laboratory in Melbourne where a large quantity of cocaine, methamphetamine and equipment used to manufacture drugs was located, along with a large quantity of cash and a two imitation firearms.
The global crime syndicate is also linked to an attempt to traffic 200kg of crystal methamphetamine to Australia in December, 2022.
Surfing high on meth
Two members of an alleged transnational criminal syndicate operating in Melbourne arrested after authorities seized approximately 300kg of methamphetamine.
Two men from Melbourne’s southeast have allegedly been linked to the importation of 78kg of meth hidden inside surfboards.
Chen Chen and He-Cheng Huang, both 33, are allegedly part of a Chinese and Taiwanese international crime syndicate operating out of Melbourne who have smuggled up to 300kg of meth into Australia.
The 12 surfboards came into Australia via air cargo from Los Angeles in August.
ABF officers identified anomalies in the consignment during an X-ray screening.
The AFP replaced the illicit drugs with fake substance and facilitated a controlled delivery to a storage unit in Dandenong South in August this year.
Chen Chen and He-Cheng Huang, from Burwood and Ferntree Gully, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court where they were remanded into custody.
The charges carry a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
Toke in the tote
Thai national charged for allegedly importing about 8kg of heroin, after authorities discovered the illicit drugs inside the passenger’s bags upon her arrival into Melbourne.
A 28-year-old Thai woman arrived in Melbourne on an international flight from China on September 4 and was selected for a baggage examination by ABF officers.
During the search, officers identified a white substance within the lining of a hessian tote-bag, which returned a positive result for heroin.
Upon further examination, ABF officers identified 32 vacuum-sealed bags containing about 8kg of heroin found in the woman’s luggage with an estimated street value of $3.4m — the equivalent of about 80,000 street deals.
The Thai national appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday September 4 and was remanded in custody to reappear again in December.
Laced in toilet paper
Four alleged members of a transnational serious organised crime syndicate operating in Melbourne charged after authorities seize about 622kg of methamphetamine hidden inside a shipment of toilet paper rolls.
Police in October arrested two 33-year-old Chinese nationals, a 34-year-old Malaysian national, and a 32-year-old Hong Kong national in an alleged link to importation of 622kg of methamphetamine hidden inside a shipment of toilet paper which arrived into Melbourne via sea cargo from Malaysia.
ABF officers identified anomalies in a consignment during an X-ray screening and reported the matter to the AFP.
It’s alleged officers located and seized 622 green and gold tea packages, each weighing 1kg, containing a white crystalline substance, which were further concealed within a pallet of toilet paper.
The quantity of methamphetamine is the equivalent of more than 6.2 million individual street deals and could be sold for an estimated $559.8m.
What’s in the bag?
The AFP arrested a Canberra man at Melbourne International Airport for allegedly attempting to import 6kg of heroin concealed in his luggage.
A 67-year-old Canberra man was stopped by ABF officers following his arrival from Manila on October 17 and officer performed X-ray scans of the man’s belongings, which included one suitcase and two handbags.
Alleged anomalies in the scans prompted officers to conduct further examinations of the bags, where they allegedly discovered a white power in the linings of all three bags.
Testing allegedly returned a positive result for heroin.
The AFP arrested the man and charged him with the importation and possession of a commercial quantity of heroin.
He faced Melbourne Magistrates Court in October this year where he was remanded in custody.
He is scheduled to reappear in January.
Hidden treasure under the sea
The AFP authorities seize more than 200kg of cocaine concealed in the hull of a cargo ship docked in the Port of Melbourne.
ABF officers used an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to search a vessel docked in Melbourne’s Maribyrnong Terminal on August 9, after it had travelled from Argentina via New Zealand.
Using the ROV, the officers identified a suspicious hull attachment in the ship’s sea chest, which is an area of the vessel that contains pipes used to pump sea water into and out of the ballast tanks.
Specialist divers from Victoria Police Search and Rescue Squad retrieved packages of cocaine from inside the sea chest.
The AFP seized a total of about 200kg of cocaine from the ship – with an estimated street value of $80m.
The confiscation is now the subject of a major Australian Federal Police investigation to track the transnational criminals who sent the cocaine and who was to receive and sell it here.
Meth or oil?
312kg of liquid methamphetamine destined for Melbourne intercepted by authorities.
US Customs and Border Protection officers at Los Angeles International Airport identified a consignment containing 312kg of liquid methamphetamine, labelled as ‘vegetable fluid oil’ bound for Australia and concealed inside two black drums.
Police in Australia and the United States acted in partnership to seize the drugs and monitor delivery of the consignment to Australia.
It’s understood the consignment was held in storage for two weeks upon arrival in Australia, before it was to be delivered to a property near Tooborac – about 100km north of Melbourne.
However the consignment was not picked up and AFP investigators executed search warrants in Melbourne and Brisbane.
AFP investigators have spoken to a number of individuals but no charges have been laid as the investigation continues.
Elderly traveller with suitcase lining full of drugs
The AFP charge a New Zealand national with attempting to import about 2kg of heroin in his luggage through Melbourne International Airport in July.
ABF officers examined the man’s luggage after he had arrived on a flight from Thailand and allegedly found white powder in the lining of the man’s suitcase tested to be heroin.
About 2kg of heroin was allegedly removed from the suitcase.
The AFP charged the man with importing a marketable quantity of a border controlled substance, namely heroin.
Travelling with goods
An Irish national appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court in July for allegedly importing GBL and methamphetamine through Melbourne International Airport.
A 32-year-old Irish man arrived into Melbourne on an international flight and collected multiple bags from the luggage carousel before he was selected for a secondary baggage screening by the ABF.
The examination revealed 1.5L of GBL and about 5g of methamphetamine in the man’s luggage.
The matter was reported to the AFP for investigation and the man was later charged.
Melbourne trio behind largest seizure of ketamine
The AFP arrest three members of an alleged Victorian-based crime syndicate, as part of an investigation resulting in the largest seizure of ketamine in Australia.
Following operational activity in Victoria in July, the AFP seized 174kg of ketamine hidden inside tubs of liquid cement sent from Spain to Australia with an estimated wholesale value of $6.9m.
Police have accused a 37-year-old Altona man and a 33-year-old Sunshine North man of coordinating and facilitating a 80kg ketamine import, along with a 32-year-old Hoppers Crossing man accused of attempting to take possession of the illicit drugs.
The investigation – codenamed Operation Woodgate – began in late May, after the AFP’s International Command received intelligence from the Spanish Guardia Civil, alerting officers at the AFP’s London Post to a suspicious consignment sent to Australia via sea cargo.
The consignment, containing 360 buckets of liquid cement/micro cement arrived into Melbourne in June.
Drugs concealed in new vehicles
The AFP charges two people over alleged involvement in importing 84kg of ketamine into Australia concealed inside two new commercial vans.
The AFP received intelligence from law enforcement partners about a criminal syndicate allegedly importing drugs hidden inside commercial vans.
Hamza Cukovic, 28, of Meadow Heights in Melbourne, was charged after his alleged involvement in a transnational crime syndicate which imported 84kg of ketamine into Australia.
Investigations identified a bulk cargo carrier transporting two new vehicles suspected to conceal the drugs which arrived in Melbourne on May 15.
Officers examined the vehicles on the vessel and allegedly found drugs concealed inside panels of the vehicles.
They seized 79 plastic bags, allegedly containing the 84kg of ketamine with estimated wholesale value of $3.36m and replaced them with a harmless substance before the vehicles were delivered to their intended destination in NSW.
Police were monitoring the vans when they allege Cukovic and another man stole one of the vehicles – which contained about half of the substituted drugs – removed the packages, placed them into another vehicle and then abandoned the van.
Cukovic was refused bail with the case adjourned to October.
Meth stuffed in raw cow hides
Mexican national jailed for 22 years for his role in an elaborate attempt to import more than 600kgs of methamphetamine into Australia, concealed in rotting, raw cow hides.
Australian authorities in 2o19 seized 668kgs of crystal methamphetamine hidden inside raw animal skins, stopping more than 6.67 million individual street deals.
A joint AFP and ABF operation began in August 2019, after a shipping container, declared as containing “Salty Bovine Skin Cuero Verde Salado De Bovino”, arrived into Melbourne from Mexico.
The shipment was examined and 18 pallets of frozen, raw and untreated cow skins were located inside.
Further inspection revealed 167 silver packages of high-grade crystal methamphetamine hidden within the skins.
Investigators responsible for deconstructing the hides described the smell of the rotting skin as “putrid”.
This was the largest onshore seizure of methamphetamine originating from Mexico at the time.
A Mexican national who was 45 years old in 2019 was sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 15 years in May this year.
Thermoforming machine filled with meth
45kg of methamphetamine destined for Australia seized by AFP’s International Network.
AFP shared intelligence to local authorities in Hong Kong via its International Liaison Officer Network regarding a suspicious shipment that was in transit to a Melbourne address.
AFP officers in Hong Kong notified Hong Kong Customs and Excise who examined the air cargo and located 45kg of meth concealed within a polystyrene machine.
AND OLDER BUSTS THAT WENT THROUGH THE COURTS...
Heavy meth in meat smokers
A 52-year-old Sunshine North man found guilty of jointly attempting to possessing a commercial quantity of methamphetamine.
A 52-year-old Sunshine North man, who is a member of a transnational organised crime syndicate in March this year was sentenced to 16 years‘ imprisonment for his involvement in the importation of 63kg of pure methamphetamine.
The man was a key facilitator in importing 63kg of methamphetamine inside a consignment of meat smokers which arrived in Melbourne from South Africa in 2021.
The estimated street value of the methamphetamine is more than $12m.
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