The AFP has seized more than 11 tonnes of precursor chemicals from one of NSW's largest- clandestine drug lab operations in a search warrant in western Sydney.
The seizure is linked to the arrest of five individuals in January, 2025, for their roles in an alleged failed plot to import more than half a tonne of illicit drugs into Australia in 2024.
Intelligence obtained during the investigation into the failed drug import led AFP members to execute a search warrant at a commercial property in the western Sydney suburb of Auburn.
The NSWPF Drug & Firearms Squad Chemical Operations team, Forensic Chemists, NSW Fire and Rescue HAZMAT teams assisted the AFP during the search warrant on 22 January, 2025.
Investigators located and processed more than 11 tonnes of pre-cursor chemicals police will allege were likely to be used to manufacture methamphetamine.
The materials included four tonnes of ethyl acetate and more than two tonnes of sodium hydroxide, and two tonnes of toluene and hydrochloric acid.
Industrial-grade equipment such as chillers and rotary evaporators were also seized.
Further enquiries led law enforcement to execute an additional search warrant at a house in Eastwood, where investigators seized a further 72 litres of alleged precursor material and a large quantity of an unknown yellow powder, which is subject to further testing.
Inquiries into the syndicate remain ongoing.
In the past year the AFP and NSWPF have dismantled more than a dozen clandestine manufacturing operations in varying stages.
AFP investigators this week uncovered two labs while investigating an Iranian Organised Crime Syndicate allegedly responsible for the importation of 110kg of methamphetamine.
Upon executing search warrants at two Sydney homes, police located two laboratories, one of which allegedly had a man conducting drug extraction activity when police entered.
In October 2024, three men and one woman were charged for their alleged roles in the suspected large-scale manufacture and supply of methamphetamine.
One of the arrested men was a dual Mexican-Colombian national who alleged travelled to Australia to establish a clandestine laboratory.
Earlier in 2024, four men who are alleged to be members of an Australian organised crime syndicate were also arrested following the discovery of a clandestine laboratory in north-west Sydney.
Three of these men were arrested at a Kenthurst property in July, 2024, after police located a clandestine laboratory allegedly involved in the production of methamphetamine.
AFP Acting Commander Peter Fogarty said the January, 2025, activity was one of the agency's most significant seizures of drug paraphernalia.
"The quantity of this 11-tonne seizures - along with this week's activity in Sydney - demonstrates the persistence of our investigators, who remain committed to identifying those responsible for the importation of illegal drugs and precursors," a/Commander Fogarty said.
"Criminal syndicates go to great lengths to conceal their activities, and the AFP is concerned about criminal groups which try and manufacture or extract drugs in Australia, to avoid the risk of their finished drug products being intercepted at the border.
"These clandestine labs represent a significant risk to the community; they are highly volatile and pose a significant health and safety risks to criminals, drugs users and the wider community who may be unlucky enough to be living near one."
NSWPF Drug & Firearms Squad Commander Detective Superintendent John Watson said this operation was another example of NSWPF providing specialist drug precursor and clandestine laboratory responses to our commonwealth partners, in support of NSW communities.
