A western Sydney man has been arrested and charged by authorities for his alleged role in orchestrating the importation of 237 kilograms of MDMA.
The man, aged 47, was expected to face Parramatta Local Court on 16 November, after he was arrested by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) at Sydney International Airport on 15 November, on his return to Australia.
The investigation, named Operation Casarabe, began in November last year after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers conducted a routine inspection of a shipping container on arrival to Australia from Germany.
An examination of the shipment, purporting to be new car parts, revealed the illicit drug which was concealed within 12 boxes of the consignment.
The ABF alerted the AFP, with officers removing the illicit drugs before the consignment was released for delivery under police surveillance.
The consignment was delivered to a western Sydney logistics facility on behalf of a company administered by the man.
The AFP said officers attended the man’s Meadowbank home in November 2023, where he allegedly claimed to have arranged the importation of car parts on behalf of another person. Authorities said it will be alleged in court that the person nominated was not real and was a manufactured identity.
In May 2024, police executed a search warrant at the Meadowbank home, where investigators seized a number of electronic devices which were subject to further forensic examination.
Authorities said it will be alleged the examination of the devices resulted in investigators obtaining evidence to link the man to the 2023 importation, and to the manufactured identity used to arrange it.
AFP officers allegedly discovered a concealed compartment within one of the man’s vehicles, where investigators located a dedicated encrypted communications device.
The AFP will also allege evidence found during the search warrant linked the email address used to coordinate the shipment to the man and to offshore cryptocurrency accounts. Investigators located and seized about AUS$576,000 in cryptocurrency, suspected to be proceeds of crime.
AFP acting superintendent Stuart Millen said the evidence to support these charges came as a result of a clinical and dedicated investigation.
“The lengths this individual allegedly went through to import this insidious substance shows the extremes criminal groups will go to in search of profits,” Mr Millen said.
ABF acting superintendent Marc Rea said this significant detection could have resulted in the cosmetic drug market being flooded with tens of millions of individual street deals.
“ABF officers immediately observed anomalies within the consignment, with the goods not matching the described and declared items,” Mr Rea said.
“On further inspection, the alleged illicit drugs were uncovered, with the syndicate attempting little to no concealment methods.
“MDMA capsules and tablets are often cut with various other toxic agents and dangerous illicit substances. In such a large quantity could have resulted in tens of thousands of lives being put at risk.”
