Fears as huge drug hauls reveal growing ice ‘scourge’

Smugglers are going to extreme lengths, like hiding liquid meth in mustard bottles, to bring drugs to our shores, with police seizing more than $12bn worth in the past year.

Police have seized 17 tonnes of methamphetamine – worth $12bn in street deals in Australia – in the past year.

The Saturday Herald Sun can reveal the Australian Federal Police has seized five tonnes of methylamphetamine, or ice, onshore and helped police overseas seize another 12 tonnes of the illicit drug, which was destined for Australia.

The Australian Border Force has also made an extraordinary 54,000 drug detections in the latest financial year to May 31, up from 35,000 the previous year.

The Australian Criminal ­Intelligence Commission’s 2021 wastewater report has ­revealed that in Decem­ber 2020 average capital city meth consumption exceeded ­regional consumption for the first time since April 2017.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said: “Meth is a scourge on society, it breaks up families, ruins lives and drains much needed public health resources during the pandemic.

“Disruption associated with the pandemic has seen patterns of meth consumption change in Australia, but there’s been no change in this government’s strong commitment to stamp it out.”

Methamphetamine was found inside a large consignment of mustard bottles that was flown to Melbourne.

Thousands of canola oil bottles were sent from Mexico to Melbourne.

In April almost 540kg of liquid methamphetamine was seized in Melbourne, discovered inside a shipment of thousands of canola oil bottles sent from Mexico to Victoria.

The liquid methamphetamine seizure was the second largest in Victorian history, following AFP-led Operation Zeelandia in November 2020, which resulted in more than 560kg of the drug seized and four alleged members of a transnational criminal syndicate charged.

In that case, the AFP, ABF and Victoria Police launched an operation on November 11 after illicit drugs were found inside a large consignment of mustard bottles flown into Melbourne from the US.

Forensic testing by AFP crime scene officers confirmed that more than 1600 of the plastic mustard bottles within two pallets contained liquid methamphetamine.

Meth in ribbons seized by the AFP in the last year. Picture: Supplied

The ribbons seized by the AFP. Picture: Supplied

“Australians can be assured the Federal Police and Border Force are taking the fight to the criminals who peddle these illicit substances,” Ms Andrews said. “I’ll continue to ensure our law enforcement agencies have the powers, tools, and technology they need to keep Australians safe.”

On April 15 police charged a 35-year-old Melbourne man after 34kg of illicit drugs were seized from an apartment in Docklands in January.

The arrest came after officers from the AFP and Victoria Police seized 13.3kg of methamphetamine and 20.8kg of the border controlled pre­cursor methylalpha-phenylacetoacetate from the apartment.

Investigators said the apartment had been leased by a criminal syndicate exclusively to store imported drugs.

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