POLICE have arrested a man over a shipment of 500 litres of meth found in a shipping container in Melbourne.

Australian Border Force officers identified anomalies in plastic barrels of white vinegar imported into Melbourne from Türkiye on 8 February 2023.

The vinegar bottles were packaged in a larger shipment of food products originally sent from Northern Iraq to Türkiye, before arriving in Melbourne.

ABF officers alerted the Australian Federal Police when a test of the liquid returned a positive reading for methamphetamine.

AFP officers found the 25 barrels in the consignment each contained 20 litres of meth.

AFP investigators removed the illicit drugs and, under “Operation Bruce”, delivered a harmless substance to an address in Clayton.

On Wednesday this week (5 April) police executed search warrants at residences in Fawkner and Bentleigh East where the 43-year-old Melbourne man was arrested.

Authorities allege the man has links to organised crime in the Middle East.

He was charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.

These offences carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.             

AFP Detective Superintendent Anthony Hall said the AFP is working “tirelessly” with partners to disrupt attempts to import illicit drugs into Australia.

“The illicit drug supply chain is littered with violence and had this amount of methamphetamine made its way to Australian streets, it would have spread through our suburbs fuelling more violence, crime and drug addiction,” he said.

ABF Superintendent Tori Rosemond said ABF officers have a wide range of capabilities at their disposal, informed by intelligence and sophisticated technology, to locate illicit drugs at Australia’s border.

“Australia’s border is a critical national asset, and we have the constant vigilance by officers at ports and airports all over the country to thank for its protection.”

Authorities estimate the meth haul had an estimated “street value” of $41.6 million.

Further forensic examination is ongoing to determine the purity of the seized drugs.