NEWS: $24m drugs seized in two days

$24m drugs seized in two days
By staff writers
20apr04
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9338016%5E1702,00.html

ABOUT $24 million worth of drugs have been seized across two states in as many days, preventing several kilograms of speed and hundreds of thousands of ecstasy tablets from hitting the streets.

In the latest bust, Customs officials intercepted 11.4kg of ephedrine – used to manufacture speed – at Sydney Airport, in parcels from South Africa.
Customs Minister Chris Ellison said workers at the Qantas Mail Handling Unit at Mascot in Sydney discovered the ephedrine which, when converted to methamphetamines, could have fetched almost $12 million on the streets.

NSW Police and Customs investigators then raided several premises around Sydney, seizing a large quantity of cash at one house.

A man from Leumeah, in Sydney's south-west, was charged over the haul, and will reappear in Sydney's Central Local Court tomorrow.

"These latest drugs that were detected are estimated to have had a street value of nearly $12 million, when cut to five per cent purity," Senator Ellison said.

The maximum penalty for this offence is a fine of $110,000 and/or five years jail.

This case follows an unconnected operation yesterday involving Customs and NSW and Victorian police.

More than 450,000 tablets were seized in Albury, Bendigo and Port Melbourne, all believed to be pseudoephedrine.

"Customs officers are to be congratulated for their vigilance in protecting our border and working to keep Australia safe," Senator Ellison said.

Customs Service National Manager Investigations, Richard Janeczko, said his investigators deserved congratulations for their hard work, but could never relax in the fight against illicit drug smuggling.

"I think it's a bit of a challenge for us, to make sure we have got the right technology, and intelligence in connection with other agencies, to keep track (of drug operations)," Mr Janeczko told reporters.

"It's a problem we have to be constantly on top of.

"We've got to be on the ball all the time, because people are thinking of new ways of (smuggling drugs), we've got to find new ways of actually pursuing them and new ways of investigating them."

After yesterday's coordinated raids, three men were charged with importing, possession and trafficking offences.

Mr Janeczko said investigations into both hauls were still ongoing and said further charges were possible.

Ephedrine is the naturally occurring stimulant, while pseudoephedrine is extracted using chemicals.

"These latest drugs that were detected are estimated to have had a street value of nearly $12 million, when cut to five per cent purity,"

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Wow... they were REALLY reaching at making impressive $$$ figures on this bust 8)

^^ haha yeh i was just about to say.. 5% !?!

I would guess, users who like chemically tasting gear will be applauding this. after-all, if ephedrine/pseudo becomes unavailable, chemists will once again turn to things like toluene, benzyl alcohol or chlorobenzene for starting materials 8)

If this does occur, the health concerns of taking speed will really jump up a notch IMO. psychosis may very well even take second place to liver and kidney ailments, as was seen in the past when meth was manufactured from things other than the chemically similar ephedrine family

They say that they are preventing hundreds of thousands of "ecstasy" tablets form hitting the streets but i couldn't find any mention of them seizing any MDMA, so were they implying they were stopping speed bombs from hitting the streets or was there another bust that wasn't mentioned in detail????

Psychadelic_Paisly said:

"Customs officers are to be congratulated for their vigilance in protecting our border and working to keep Australia safe," Senator Ellison said.

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Yeah, right. Busting suppliers doesn't dent demand, it only effects supply. In turn increasing competition for obtaining chemicals to make drugs from. Is that going to lead to more or less dodgy activity? So will this actually make us safer, or more at risk as drug users who could get badly produced speed, or some kind of risky substitute chemical? And what about citizens who might be in the wrong place at the wrong time amidst a high pressure, high risk drug deal where inevitably firearms and desperate people are at work? Deals like that are only going to become more common as precursors get harder to obtain.

My plea to the government:
Work with drug users! Not against them!

word apollo

brilliantly put

Ephedrine is the naturally occurring stimulant, while pseudoephedrine is extracted using chemicals.

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This is the funniest thing ive read in a while, up there with its got a smiley face it must be from a large supplier.

Ephedrine is naturally occurring in some plants like ephedra. Pseudoephedrine is SYNTHESISED by humans using other chemicals to assist them in that goal.

I also find it funny that Ellison has made the leap from X amount of pseudoephedrine to 20(X) amount of methylamphetamine cut to 5% pure. Always got to make everything sound the most extreme it possibly can.

It is funny that when politicians are talking about how much tax payer money they are spending on particular projects they make CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATES. As soon as they are discussing seized drugs or even drugs that may eventually be synthesised from something else that is seized, they talk about the most exaggerated and maximised quantities they can possibly claim.

So is it just my perception because i'm noticing it more these days, or are there alot more busts of this size going on these past 6 months or so?

Re: Re: NEWS: $24m drugs seized in two days

apollo said:

Yeah, right. Busting suppliers doesn't dent demand, it only effects supply. In turn increasing competition for obtaining chemicals to make drugs from. Is that going to lead to more or less dodgy activity?

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haha
he has learnt the economics well
totally agree btw