poledriver
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AUS - Chinese drug lord behind record import
A CHINESE drug lord with links to a international crime network has been identified as the architect of a record pseudoephedrine import into Australia.
NSW detectives travelled to China and liaised with local authorities to investigate the activities of Yuanlin Wu, 52, who is currently behind bars on drug-related charges.
The drug squad investigation, tagged Strike Force Garner, is looking for the culprits behind a record shipment of drugs into Australia hidden in shipping containers.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that NSW Police have issued an arrest warrant for the Chinese national, who is in prison for identical drug shipments to foreign countries.
The drugs sent to Sydney were hidden in 165 shipping containers using expert secretion techniques between February 2009 and January 2011. The haul included 542kg of ContacNT - a cold and flu medication used to make "ice" - as well as 67kg of ice and 13kg of heroin.
DNA and fingerprint evidence from inside the containers, along with 3316 canisters used to hold the drugs, were taken to China after they did not match anyone on Australian databases.
After meeting with the Chinese National Narcotics Control Commission, it was determined the forensic profiles from the containers matched that of Wu.
Drug Squad commander Nick Bingham told The Sunday Telegraph Wu would probably never be brought back to Sydney, but there were persons locally still being sought for questioning.
"The person we think is the principal in this matter has been linked to a number of syndicates internationally," Mr Bingham said. "He's linked (to NSW) through association with the people who facilitated the import, and he is also linked forensically to our investigation."
Police believe that after exporting the drugs, the syndicate lost track of the cargo.
The containers were scattered across NSW and sold to legitimate businesses with the drugs still inside.
Detectives travelled to 22 locations, including Wagga Wagga, Dubbo and Collarenebri, to collect them.
Officers became aware of the drugs after a western Sydney businessman from Chipping Norton made an unusual discovery last December.
He had just bought six containers that he planned to refurbish but found they had been tampered with: three were packed solid with ContacNT and methamphetamines.
Within days of starting their investigation detectives went to a Padstow storage yard housing at least 130 more containers - 28 were filled with more ContacNT. The remaining containers, police say, had been emptied of their drug cargo.
Mr Bingham said it was likely that up to a tonne and a half of ContacNT was in circulation as a result of the import.
http://www.news.com.au/national/chinese-drug-lord-behind-record-import/story-fndo4bst-1226509725390
A CHINESE drug lord with links to a international crime network has been identified as the architect of a record pseudoephedrine import into Australia.
NSW detectives travelled to China and liaised with local authorities to investigate the activities of Yuanlin Wu, 52, who is currently behind bars on drug-related charges.
The drug squad investigation, tagged Strike Force Garner, is looking for the culprits behind a record shipment of drugs into Australia hidden in shipping containers.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that NSW Police have issued an arrest warrant for the Chinese national, who is in prison for identical drug shipments to foreign countries.
The drugs sent to Sydney were hidden in 165 shipping containers using expert secretion techniques between February 2009 and January 2011. The haul included 542kg of ContacNT - a cold and flu medication used to make "ice" - as well as 67kg of ice and 13kg of heroin.
DNA and fingerprint evidence from inside the containers, along with 3316 canisters used to hold the drugs, were taken to China after they did not match anyone on Australian databases.
After meeting with the Chinese National Narcotics Control Commission, it was determined the forensic profiles from the containers matched that of Wu.
Drug Squad commander Nick Bingham told The Sunday Telegraph Wu would probably never be brought back to Sydney, but there were persons locally still being sought for questioning.
"The person we think is the principal in this matter has been linked to a number of syndicates internationally," Mr Bingham said. "He's linked (to NSW) through association with the people who facilitated the import, and he is also linked forensically to our investigation."
Police believe that after exporting the drugs, the syndicate lost track of the cargo.
The containers were scattered across NSW and sold to legitimate businesses with the drugs still inside.
Detectives travelled to 22 locations, including Wagga Wagga, Dubbo and Collarenebri, to collect them.
Officers became aware of the drugs after a western Sydney businessman from Chipping Norton made an unusual discovery last December.
He had just bought six containers that he planned to refurbish but found they had been tampered with: three were packed solid with ContacNT and methamphetamines.
Within days of starting their investigation detectives went to a Padstow storage yard housing at least 130 more containers - 28 were filled with more ContacNT. The remaining containers, police say, had been emptied of their drug cargo.
Mr Bingham said it was likely that up to a tonne and a half of ContacNT was in circulation as a result of the import.
http://www.news.com.au/national/chinese-drug-lord-behind-record-import/story-fndo4bst-1226509725390
