Mega Merged Drug Bust Thread v2.0

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Man caught conducting DIY Ice importation with approximate street value of $43 million

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06-11-2014 -
A 55-year-old Chinese national will appear in the Sydney Central Local Court today (6 November 2014) charged with importing crystal methamphetamine, also known as Ice, concealed in flat-pack cabinet materials.

Late last month, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) officers at the Sydney Container Examination Facility selected a consignment labelled as ‘flat pack cabinets’ for closer examination after an x-ray of the consignment revealed anomalies.

During the examination, ACBPS officers found a crystalline substance concealed within stacks of plywood boards. Presumptive tests of the substance returned positive results for crystal methamphetamine with an approximate total weight of 65kg. The estimated street value of the crystal methamphetamine is $43 million.

The matter was referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for investigation.

On Monday 3 November 2014 the AFP conducted a controlled delivery of the consignment to an address in Rosebery. Yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon the Chinese national accessed the consignment and began removing substituted material. The man was arrested and transported to the AFP Sydney Office.

The man has been charged with one count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug contrary to section 307.5 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) and one count of importing a commercial quantity of border controlled drug contrary to section 307.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

AFP Manager Sydney Office, Ray Johnson said people considering importing border controlled drugs should listen to authorities.

“Every day of every week, we are building our intelligence on drug importation, and it is not just the AFP that criminals are up against. They face the combined resources of numerous border and law enforcement agencies both here and across the globe,” Commander Johnson said.

“The arrest is a direct result of information gathering, intelligence sharing and a joint operation to bring the drug importer before the courts. Stopping thousands of hits of crystal methamphetamine making it onto our streets is a great outcome.”

ACBPS Director Operations and Planning NSW, Brett Totten, said this arrest shows that transnational criminal networks continue to pose a real danger to the Australian border and our way of life, however they face a formidable opponent in Australian and international law enforcement partners.

http://newsroom.customs.gov.au/rele...n-with-approximate-street-value-of-43-million
 
NSW Police Force
1 hr ·
Investigators have charged two men after a large quantity of tobacco was seized in a van at Coffs Harbour early this morning.
About 12.45am (Saturday 8 November 2014), police from Coffs/Clarence Local Area Command were patrolling Pacific Highway south of Coffs Harbour.
The officers stopped and spoke to two men in a transit van parked at a service station.

Police searched the van and will allege that they seized over 275 kilograms of tobacco.
The men were arrested and taken to Coffs Police Station.

Both men, a 27 and 32-year-old, were charged with not have tobacco bale label attached/comply with conditions, possess tobacco and move tobacco leaf without permission.
They were given conditional bail to appear at Coffs Harbour Local Court on Monday 8 December 2014.

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George Hatsiosifidis, 75, jailed for five years over $10m, 3000-plant drug crop

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AN ELDERLY man has been jailed over a sophisticated $10 million drug crop in the Murray Mallee.

George Hatsiosifidis, 75, had been found guilty by a District Court jury of two counts of cultivating a commercial quantity of a controlled plant in February 2011.

The court had heard more than 3000 cannabis plant were found at a property at Peebinga, between Loxton and Pinnaroo.

It also heard the crops were watered by a sophisticated dripper system.

Prosecutors had alleged the crops would have yielded about $10 million when they reached maturity.

Judge Paul Cuthbertson today sentenced Hatsiosifidis to five years’ jail with a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/...0plant-drug-crop/story-fni6uo1m-1227121834159
 
Drugs, traffickers, B990K bribe seized
14 Nov 2014
Chinpat Chaimon


Six members of a suspected drug gang were arrested, and more than 200,000 speed pills, a kilogramme of Ecstasy and a proffered bribe of nearly one million baht in cash were seized in two separate operations in Chiang Rai on Friday.

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continued here http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/443377/drug-bust-leads-to-bribe-attempt

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990,000 baht is 30137 usd
 
Drug trafficker Marc Quaid jailed for 23 years over Perth methamphetamine seizure

Two men have been jailed for their involvement in a multi-million dollar drug operation being run out of Perth.

Marc Quaid, 39, was sentenced to at least 20 years in prison after being found guilty of selling more than 12 kilograms of methamphetamine.

His courier, 51-year-old Roberto Zanon, was handed a 14-year sentence.

District Court judge Bruce Goetze described Quaid as a high-level dealer who was able to "shift large quantities, very quickly".

He said he was in the "worst category of offenders" and was "at the top, or very near the top" of a sophisticated drug dealing operation.

The court was told the methamphetamine seized was worth up to $4.5 million but would have fetched far more at street level.

Police charged the men after officers discovered drugs at a warehouse in the Perth suburb of Malaga.

The pair maintained their innocence throughout the trial, but Quaid appeared to have had a change of heart.

Judge Goetze said he received a letter from Quaid on Thursday in which he said he was remorseful, and would "never get involved with anything of this kind again, even if I was released tomorrow".

But the judge said it was not true remorse and that Quaid felt sorry for himself because of the position he found himself in.

Judge Goetze said the men were motivated by financial gain and had not considered the "grief suffered by end users of drugs".

Earlier this year Quaid dropped a claim that post-traumatic stress disorder, suffered as a result of his Army service, may have contributed to his offending.

Quaid blew a kiss to his partner Emily McHenry as he was led out of the dock.

He has a young daughter with her, and two sons from a previous relationship.

Both men will be eligible for parole.

Marc Quaid is the brother of Fabian Quaid who in 2010 was sentenced to 17 years' jail for conspiring to traffic 44 kilograms of methylamphetamine, which arrived in Fremantle on a cargo ship in 2008.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-14/drug-trafficker-sentenced-to-23-years-jail/5891984
 
Wow, those are brutal sentences. I didn't realize that drug sentencing got that bad in Australia. :(
 
Australian navy seizes heroin worth $183m near east Africa

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An Australian Navy warship patrolling Indian Ocean waters has seized heroin worth $183 million near east Africa this week, a navy official says.

It is one of the region's biggest heroin hauls in recent years.

East Africa has become a key export route for Afghan heroin destined for Europe but regional maritime forces, short of funds and anti-trafficking expertise, have struggled to stem the flow of narcotics through their territorial waters.

Crew from the frigate HMAS Toowoomba boarded a vessel in international waters on Monday and confiscated 388 kilograms of heroin in hessian bags after an intelligence tip-off, the 30-country Coalition Maritime Forces (CMF) naval group said in a statement.

"The teams ashore and onboard the ship provided key pieces of the puzzle which led to this successful intercept," commanding officer of HMAS Toowoomba Cath Hayes said.

HMAS Toowoomba was deployed as part of CMF to counter piracy, militancy, smuggling and other illegal activities in an area covering the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman.

The CMF did not give the precise location of the seizure but to date most of the major heroin seizures in east Africa took place near Kenya and Tanzania, widely seen as the main gateways for Afghan drugs into east Africa.

In April, another Australian warship near Kenya raided a vessel with 1,023 kilograms of heroin on board, which remains the record heroin haul seized by the CMF in the region.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-...eroin-worth-millions-near-east-africa/5908030
 
Mouthwash detection prevents cocaine build up

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20-11-2014 -
A 23-year-old Brazilian national will appear before Sydney Central Local court today, charged with attempting to import more than two litres of liquid cocaine into Australia.

On Wednesday, 19 November 2014, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) officers at Sydney International Airport selected the man for a baggage examination after he arrived on a flight from Dubai.

During the examination, ACBPS officers located four bottles of assorted liquids labelled alcoholic spirits, mouthwash and beauty products. When the bottles were opened, officers noticed that the liquid was consistently thicker than expected in all four bottles. Initial tests of the liquid tested positive for cocaine.

The man was referred to the Australian Federal Police, who later charged him and he will appear in Sydney Central Local court today.

ACBPS Regional Commander NSW, Tim Fitzgerald, commended the diligence of the Customs and Border Protection officers involved in the seizure.

“This detection is yet another example of the commitment of our highly-skilled officers who work every day to protect Australia’s border,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

“Our officers on the front line, as well as those working in intelligence, are committed to stopping these drugs from reaching Australia’s streets.”

“The maximum penalty this man may face is life imprisonment or a $1,275,000 fine.”

http://newsroom.customs.gov.au/releases/mouthwash-detection-prevents-cocaine-build-up
 
Same as in the UK, class A drugs with intent to distribute carries up to life and an unlimited fine. In practice this is (almost?) never used.
 
I see. I didn't know that. I suppose it could be the same in my country, I never looked into possible charges for distribution, only personal use. Thanks for the info!
 
Nah, as Transform said above these penalties are hardly ever handed out in full. I would guess the man will get like 25 yrs or something but will serve something like 15. It's stupid tho, some rapists or pedos get much more lenient sentences.
 
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Large-scale clandestine drug laboratory uncovered on Sydney's Northern Beaches - Drug Squad

Saturday, 22 November 2014 03:58:31 PM

***Editors’ note – footage of the police operation and the seized items will be sent to media this afternoon. Further details of the seized items will be given once the scene is processed***


Drug Squad detectives are in the process of dismantling a large-scale clandestine drug laboratory that was discovered on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

Police were called to a chemical factory on Prosperity Parade at Warriewood about 12.15pm yesterday (Friday 21 November 2014), following an explosion and subsequent fire inside the building.

The fire was extinguished and officers from Northern Beaches Local Area Command established a crime scene.

During an examination of the crime scene, officers discovered the mezzanine level had been converted into an elaborate clandestine laboratory.

Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Drug Squad were alerted and are in the process of dismantling the lab and seizing the chemicals.

So far detectives have located and seized more than 200kg of chemicals believed to be used to manufacture MDMA (ecstasy).

The operation is continuing and due to the size of the set-up police expect the process of dismantling the site to take some time.

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/l...vdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGNDI1NTkuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ==
 
239 arrests, $300K of drugs seized in Harrisburg "Shock and Awe" sweep
Nov 24, 2014
By Amanda Peterson

During a press conference Monday morning, Attorney General Kathleen Kane announced the results of a recent large-scale warrant sweep in Harrisburg, named "Operation Shock and Awe."

Kane announced the Mobile Street Crimes Unit's sweep resulted in 239 arrests and $300,000 worth of heroin was seized. Kane also said seven gangs were identified in Harrisburg and surrounding areas and seven drug trafficking organizations were found to be operating in that region.

The unit, with the help of local, state and federal law enforcement worked together for the two week crime sweep.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse also spoke at the press conference, announcing that Harrisburg Police arrested another 501 people and seized 45 guns in addition to the efforts by the Attorney General.

http://www.abc27.com/story/27467649...rugs-seized-in-harrisburg-shock-and-awe-sweep
 
Six arrested in drug bust which seized 2.8 tonnes of MDMA and methamphetamine worth $1.5 billion

Six people have been charged over what is believed to be Australia's second largest drug bust, police say.

Approximately 2.8 tonnes of illicit drugs were seized, including 1917 kilograms of MDMA and 849 kilograms of methamphetamine, with a street value of more than $1.5 billion.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin and the Justice Minister Michael Keenan will release more details of the operation.

More to come.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-29/six-arrested-in-15b-drug-bust-police/5927904

EDIT - (pics)

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http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw...stralian-history/story-fnii5s3x-1227139129100
 
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