Man allegedly trafficking drugs at Spirit of Tasmania Geelong port

Police allege a man who was about to board the Spirit of Tasmania was found with 6kg of MDMA.

The Spirit of Tasmania. Picture: Supplied

Police have arrested a man at the Spirit of Tasmania port in Geelong, and allege he was trafficking a large commercial quantity of MDMA.

Police said officers stopped a man and woman about to board the boat on Wednesday August 21.

A Victoria Police spokesman said a search of their luggage allegedly revealed 6kg of what appeared to be MDMA hidden among items in their suitcase.

A 44-year-old Newport man was charged and will appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on November 26.

The arrest came in a national week of action targeting illicit drug and organised crime activity.

Last week across the country, police arrested 1600 people, laid more than 2900 charges and seized over $93M of drugs last week in Operation Vitreus.

The operation was a joint initiative between all Australian state and territory police, Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre and New Zealand Police.

A Victoria Police spokesman said in Victoria alone Operation Vitreus, led by the Crime Command Organised Crime Division, saw 268 arrests, 568 drug related charges, 55 search warrants executed and the seizure of 25 firearms and $100,000 cash.

Detectives from Major Drug Squad, the Icarus and VIPER Taskforces, the Joint Organised Crime Taskforce, Clandestine Laboratory Squad and local police also seized varying quantities of what appear to be heroin, methylamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, ketamine, 1,4-Butanediol and cannabis with a total combined street value of more than $3m.

Across the nation the operation saw 1611 drug related arrests, 2962 drug related charges, 71 gun seizures, the seizure of over $2.2m cash and almost 1400 kgs of illicit drugs and more than 2500 cannabis plants, worth about $93m (street value), seized.

The operation ran from Monday 19 to Friday last week, focusing on detecting, disrupting and enforcing illicit drug and organised crime activity and aiming to reduce the availability of illicit drugs within the community.

A total of 528 search warrants were executed throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Originally published as Man allegedly trafficking drugs at Spirit of Tasmania Geelong port