THE AUSTRALIAN Federal Police has charged four men over their alleged roles in a plot to import $283 million dollars’ worth of meth into Australia in a six-tonne hydraulic press.
AFP began its investigation into the shipment after Australian Border Force officers identified anomalies during a screening of a consignment at the Melbourne Container Examination Facility on 12 June. It had been sent from the US.
ABF officers found a methamphetamine at the base of the machinery, and further examination revealed several wooden boxes hidden in the hydraulic press, with a total of 306 kilograms of the drug concealed inside the boxes.
The AFP removed the illicit drugs and tracked the consignment until it was transported to a factory in Campbellfield, Victoria, on 30 July 2024.
Police believe several men then used electric tools and equipment over the course of several days to attempt to access the illicit drugs they expected to find.
On Saturday (3 August) AFP and Victoria Police arrested the four men at the factory.
Three men, aged 18, 19 and 20 were due to face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 5 August 2024, each charged with attempting to possess the shipment.
The fourth person, aged 17, has been charged with the same offence and is expected to appear in the Melbourne Children’s Court on 9 August 2024.
ABF Commander Clinton Sims said Australia’s drug market “could be enticing” for criminal networks, but law enforcement agencies were watching.
“Australian Border Force officers work tirelessly to analyse any suspicious intelligence reports, consignment descriptions, and other red flags when examining goods entering the country,” Commander Sims said.
“These expert skills – accompanied by officer intuition – enable the ABF to disrupt the concealment attempts of these criminal networks, eliminating their chances of getting these harmful substances on the street.”
AFP estimates the amount of meth could have been sold as more than three million individual street deals.
