Wet wipe meth: New ways bikies are bringing in drugs

Organised crime networks have found “new and novel” ways of bringing high-demand drugs including methamphetamine into the country. See how they’re doing it.

Fly-in, fly-out drug cooks, “shore crew” and specialist divers are being paid to facilitate big drug trafficking shipments into Australia in a bid to minimise risks to organised crime networks.

The so-called drug experts are arriving in Australia as cleanskins with a tourist visa and a suitcase buying locally any equipment they might need. They fly out again as soon as their job is done, according to one of the country’s most powerful law enforcement agencies.

“It is part of a new modus operandi … These trusted experts are being flown in from around the world,” NSW Crime Commissioner Michael Barnes said.

NSW Crime Commissioner Michael Barnes. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Overseas drug kingpins are known to have already blamed bungling bikies and untrustworthy locals for a rash of seizures of drugs coming into the country and also while being trucked across the country from Sydney and Melbourne to Perth.

Mr Barnes said organised crime groups are rapidly adapting to combat onshore threats, vulnerabilities, and the real risk of local crooks being compromised or turned by rival groups to steal drug shipments.

He said organised crime shore crew are arranging distribution of the drugs and then facilitating payment using cryptocurrencies – and they and the money just disappear.

“Assessing and identifying these emerging crime threats is critical to the work of the Commission,” Mr Barnes said.

“To be proactive and get ahead of the organised criminal networks the Commission has dedicated a strategic intelligence unit to identify the threats and share that criminal intelligence with law enforcement partners.”

Two Brazilian nationals were flown into Australia in 2022 to help retrieve and facilitate a drug shipment which arrived on a cargo ship.

One of the men, professional diver Bruno Borges, was found dead near multiple blocks of cocaine floating in the water at the Port of Newcastle. The whereabouts of the other Brazilian man is unknown.

Bruno Borges was found dead near a cocaine shipment and is believed to have been hired as a diver. Picture: Facebook

The NSW Crime Commission in its annual report for 2022/2023 said the thriving market for illicit drugs has continued to drive organised crime activity and the “immense profits” have fuelled “ongoing violent conflicts … including regular murders, kidnappings and public place shootings.”

The report said the Commission has uncovered “new and novel” ways of importing and manufacturing methylamphetamine one of the most consumed drugs in Australia.

It found a significant increase in multi-tonne importations of liquid methylamphetamine that had been hidden in household products such as canola oil, coconut water, and tequila bottles.

“Commission investigations have identified active clandestine laboratories established to extract crystal methylamphetamine from liquid, clothing and wet wipes.

“In some cases foreign nationals are likely to have been flown in specifically to perform the extraction process.”

In recent months a string of foreign nationals, including from Hong Kong, have been charged after arriving in Austraila to allegedly extract drugs from items including rolls of fabrics.

“The methods being detected in NSW reflect a global trajectory of methylamphetamine manufacture becoming cheaper, more sophisticated and more geographically widespread than ever before.”

A string of internationals have been arresetd in recent months over drug shipments. Picture: AFP

In the past year the peak crime fighting body has made 88 joint arrests and laid 591 joint charges.

Most charges related to drugs and money laundering. But there was a large drop of 51 per cent and 25 per cent from the previous year.

There were significant jumps in charges for murder, firearms and prohibited weapons. There was one charge which related to a terrorism offence.

The Commission has confiscated assets worth more than $41 million and sent 539 intelligence and information reports to partner law enforcement agencies.

The Commission which has the power to force people to give evidence about serious and organised crimes held 103 coercive hearings – 60 per cent increase on the 62 hearings held in 2021/2022.

There were 72 charges laid for refusing to give evidence or failing to answer questions, knowingly giving false evidence and obstructing or hindering the Commission.

Of those, two offenders were charged and convicted with a combined 14 counts and received community based sentences.

Originally published as Wet wipe meth: New ways bikies are bringing in drugs