The AFP has charged four Melbourne men over their alleged roles in a plot to import $283 million dollars' worth of methamphetamine into Australia from the United States concealed in a six-tonne hydraulic press.
A Noble Park man, 19, a Narre Warren man, 20, and a Lynbrook man, 18, will face the Melbourne Magistrates' Court today (Monday, 5 August, 2024) each charged with attempting to possess the 306kg methamphetamine shipment.
A 17-year-old from Noble Park has been charged with the same offence and is expected to appear in the Melbourne Children's Court on Friday, 9 August, 2024.
The AFP launched an investigation after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers identified anomalies during an x-ray screening of a consignment that arrived at the Melbourne Container Examination Facility (CeF) on 12 June, 2024.
When ABF officers drilled into the base of the machinery, they found a white crystal-like substance. Testing of a sample of the substance returned a positive presumptive result for methamphetamine. The matter was then referred to the AFP for investigation.
Further examination by ABF officers and AFP investigators revealed several wooden boxes hidden in the hydraulic press, with a total of 306kg of methamphetamine 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 will allege that 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, 2024), the AFP, with the support of Victoria Police, arrested the four men at the Campbellfield factory. Police executed search warrants at properties in Noble Park, Narre Warren, and Campbellfield, in Victoria, as well as a property in Wollstonecraft, New South Wales, where they located and seized items allegedly relating to the importation and attempted possession.
The four males have each been charged with one count of attempted possession of a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, contrary to section 307.5(1) by virtue of sub-section 11.1 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth). The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.
AFP Commander Raegan Stewart said methamphetamine was the second most consumed illicit drug in Australia and the latest reporting showed Australians consumed about 10.5 tonnes of the damaging substance each year.*
"Methamphetamine continues to ravage our communities and remains the drug of most concern to Australian law enforcement," Commander Stewart said.
"This amount of methamphetamine could have been sold as more than 3,000,000 individual street deals, and we cannot overstate the community harm this would have caused if it had not been intercepted by authorities.
"The AFP estimates about 350 drug-related hospitalisations were likely prevented by stopping this amount of methamphetamine from reaching our communities.
"Sadly, Australia is an enticing market for organised crime groups seeking to make profit from the misery caused by illicit drugs. The AFP will continue to work closely with ABF, Victoria Police, and other partners to relentlessly pursue and stop criminals involved in the illicit drug trade."
ABF Commander Clinton Sims said Australia's lucrative 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.
"More than three million individual deals is a significant quantity to be removed from the domestic illicit drug market, criminal networks should be on alert that authorities are watching closely to continue to disrupt your dealings."
*ACIC National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program Report 22
