poledriver
Bluelighter
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AUS : Drug gang loses the plot, leaving $150m in containers that were sold
This story is old in oz, we had it a month or so ago, but it's in our papers again today and I thought i'd share it here.
here
SOMEWHERE along the line an international drug syndicate lost track of its multi-million-dollar stash.
Heroin, ice and pseudoephedrine worth $150 million was imported into Sydney in metal tea canisters hidden in the frames of shipping containers sent from China.
The syndicate never came to collect its containers and eventually they were emptied of legitimate cargo and sold as storage units to unsuspecting farmers and businesses - with the drugs still concealed inside.
The 54 containers, and the drugs, ended up scattered across the state. Police found the first three at Chipping Norton, in south-western Sydney, in the first week of December and over the next four weeks had tracked down a further 50 at 22 locations.
Most were in industrial areas around Sydney; 27 were discovered at Padstow, but others had ended up in Wagga Wagga, Cooma, Dubbo, Bathurst and even as far west as Collarenebri, near Lightning Ridge.
Each container carried up to 15 kilograms of heroin, or the stimulant pseudoephedrine, with a value of up to $3 million, and all without their new owners' knowledge. Altogether it represented a record haul of pseudoephedrine for NSW police. The problem is, one still has not been found.
''At some point last year this syndicate lost control of 27 containers and … we are seeking public assistance to locate the last container,'' Detective Acting Superintendent Steve Patton said. ''The crooks have lost the containers and we've been finding them.''
Despite the exhaustive efforts of police, no one is quite sure where the final one is.
''We believe this last container is still on the NSW south coast but it is possible it could be anywhere in Australia,'' he said.
The six-metre container, spray-painted grey inside, was sold on the NSW far south coast between June and December last year.
''I can say the last sale was by a Pambula man, but as to exactly where, we're not sure,'' Superintendent Patton said. It remains missing as no records were kept once it was sold and it has changed ownership a ''few times''.
Investigations are continuing and police expect to make arrests once the entire shipment has been recovered.
''We believe it is a multinational syndicate and we are looking at a number of suspects in Australia and China,'' he said.
Heroin, ice and pseudoephedrine worth $150 million was imported into Sydney in metal tea canisters hidden in the frames of shipping containers sent from China.
The syndicate never came to collect its containers and eventually they were emptied of legitimate cargo and sold as storage units to unsuspecting farmers and businesses - with the drugs still concealed inside.
The 54 containers, and the drugs, ended up scattered across the state. Police found the first three at Chipping Norton, in south-western Sydney, in the first week of December and over the next four weeks had tracked down a further 50 at 22 locations.
Most were in industrial areas around Sydney; 27 were discovered at Padstow, but others had ended up in Wagga Wagga, Cooma, Dubbo, Bathurst and even as far west as Collarenebri, near Lightning Ridge.
Each container carried up to 15 kilograms of heroin, or the stimulant pseudoephedrine, with a value of up to $3 million, and all without their new owners' knowledge. Altogether it represented a record haul of pseudoephedrine for NSW police. The problem is, one still has not been found.
''At some point last year this syndicate lost control of 27 containers and … we are seeking public assistance to locate the last container,'' Detective Acting Superintendent Steve Patton said. ''The crooks have lost the containers and we've been finding them.''
Despite the exhaustive efforts of police, no one is quite sure where the final one is.
''We believe this last container is still on the NSW south coast but it is possible it could be anywhere in Australia,'' he said.
The six-metre container, spray-painted grey inside, was sold on the NSW far south coast between June and December last year.
''I can say the last sale was by a Pambula man, but as to exactly where, we're not sure,'' Superintendent Patton said. It remains missing as no records were kept once it was sold and it has changed ownership a ''few times''.
Investigations are continuing and police expect to make arrests once the entire shipment has been recovered.
''We believe it is a multinational syndicate and we are looking at a number of suspects in Australia and China,'' he said.
This story is old in oz, we had it a month or so ago, but it's in our papers again today and I thought i'd share it here.
here
