NEWS: The Age 27 Apr 03: Record ecstasy haul seized
- Thread starter Minerva
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BigTrancer
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Ladieeees and gentlemennnn... a NEW WORLD RECORD... and pretty much evidence that someone was about to press a fuck load of pills here locally from imported powder IMO.
BigTrancer
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LOL - Minerva was quicker on the trigger than me by a couple of minutes... I've merged both threads. It looks like the identical article at two sources.
BigTrancer
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Cpt.Caveman
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God damn, they might have been making awesome caps from that!
hehe
hehe
goatyoghurt
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This sux
sonic_reality
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i was watching this on channel ten news, and they said that a pill press and chemical binding agents were also found in the shipment.
so BT has got it right about someone pressing them locally, but it seems they needed the press sent over as well.
they also said that it was not ALL powder, and there were premade pills in the shipment as well.
but they did say that the amount of powder seized was enough to make over 1 million pills. now that is a FUCKLOAD of pills. every pillhead in australia could have had one of these, and there still would have been heaps more to go around!
normally we scoff at the police when they claim that a seizure will affect the availability and price of pills, but this time they might be right!
so BT has got it right about someone pressing them locally, but it seems they needed the press sent over as well.
they also said that it was not ALL powder, and there were premade pills in the shipment as well.
but they did say that the amount of powder seized was enough to make over 1 million pills. now that is a FUCKLOAD of pills. every pillhead in australia could have had one of these, and there still would have been heaps more to go around!
normally we scoff at the police when they claim that a seizure will affect the availability and price of pills, but this time they might be right!
apollo
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^^ Maybe the seller threw them in for free due to the size of the purchase. Seeing as these folk are motivated by $$$ and hope to evade the authorities I think it's fair to say that they found a cheaper and/or less detectable way of getting the binders and press from Malaysia than they could locally.
Powder is easier to smuggle. It fits in smaller, more diverse places and doesn't sound like a rattle. There's less mass as it's only the pure gear. Also, it could be mistaken for something else at a glance. Unlike pills, which are a dead give away. I reakon pretty coloured pills with smiley faces and car badges on them are going to arouse suspicion from anyone! They also might break up during the journey, and require more space & care when being packed.
Powder is easier to smuggle. It fits in smaller, more diverse places and doesn't sound like a rattle. There's less mass as it's only the pure gear. Also, it could be mistaken for something else at a glance. Unlike pills, which are a dead give away. I reakon pretty coloured pills with smiley faces and car badges on them are going to arouse suspicion from anyone! They also might break up during the journey, and require more space & care when being packed.
Backo
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a purity content of 85%... hmmm why cant the police ever catch some dicey mother fucker bringing in bunk pills.. hehe... If i heard that they were 85% i would be like so what they have a less likely chance of killing the people who take them.... hmmm
oh well im sure we will all be eating these pills at the next police garage sale
Im just kidding for all the piggies reading this i love u all
oh well im sure we will all be eating these pills at the next police garage sale
Im just kidding for all the piggies reading this i love u all
papermate
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can somebody explain why ecstasy hauls are the flavour of the month?
will this:
1. affect street prices?
2. be positive or negative for public awareness or harm minimisation organisations.
on one hand the SMH does an article saying, "its not that bad, just be careful,"...on the other hand you have the government authorities saying, " yes we are winning the war!"
will this:
1. affect street prices?
2. be positive or negative for public awareness or harm minimisation organisations.
on one hand the SMH does an article saying, "its not that bad, just be careful,"...on the other hand you have the government authorities saying, " yes we are winning the war!"
johnboy
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Papermate: At a guess I'd say that the police have been targeting ecstasy importers more because demand for it is so high that supply is racing to meet it. Newer people are trying their hand at importing, and are easier to target in these types of operations as they lack the experience (and connections) to successfully pull it off.
Also with heroin harder to source overseas there are fewer newbies trying their hand at importing that substance, unlike say 5-6 years ago where any fool could buy a kilo and bring it in. Although Afghanistan is now back in business, the Golden triangle states are under a great deal of pressure, and have in fact been turning a lot of resources away from opium and towards amphetamines, including ecstasy.
So basically I have my doubts that these two busts will in any way affect street prices. If anything it indicates that demand is so high more people are willing to risk bringing in large amounts in one go.
As for harm min messages, I think that is irrelevant. This is about crime, NOT whether or not the drug is dangerous. These people are breaking the law, big time. Of course they are going to get major press when they are importing such a staggeringly large value of drugs. But what does this say about the end user? Very little, unless you can infer that since there is such a high demand, and there is no apparent wide spread devasatation in society because of this drugs use, this means the drug is relatively harmless and it's legality should perhaps be reassessed. But that's a pretty long bow to draw.
Where in these articles does the government say it is "winning the war on drugs"? I'd be very suprised to see that sort of rhetoric being used by any one these days...
Backo: Er... no one imports bunk pills. There is no point. We make enough speed here, and have access to ketamine via vets etc. The only reason people import MDMA is that there are no large scale labs set up for it's manufacture in Australia and it is more profitable to import from areas that do have such facilities (Northern Europe, Asia) than it is to make it here. This is the same reason why we import lots of things. Illegal drugs are subject to market forces as much as anything else.
Local manufacturers of bunks pills get busted all the time, it just doesn't make the news as often. A $100 million bust is far sexier than a bust of a $20,000 speed lab.
As for pill presses and binders, these are monitored as closely in Australia as precursors are, so of course if you can buy one in Malaysia and get it sent here it will be done. Sets off less alarm bells. Of course who knows how this syndicate got tumbled, might have been by the pill press company...
Also with heroin harder to source overseas there are fewer newbies trying their hand at importing that substance, unlike say 5-6 years ago where any fool could buy a kilo and bring it in. Although Afghanistan is now back in business, the Golden triangle states are under a great deal of pressure, and have in fact been turning a lot of resources away from opium and towards amphetamines, including ecstasy.
So basically I have my doubts that these two busts will in any way affect street prices. If anything it indicates that demand is so high more people are willing to risk bringing in large amounts in one go.
As for harm min messages, I think that is irrelevant. This is about crime, NOT whether or not the drug is dangerous. These people are breaking the law, big time. Of course they are going to get major press when they are importing such a staggeringly large value of drugs. But what does this say about the end user? Very little, unless you can infer that since there is such a high demand, and there is no apparent wide spread devasatation in society because of this drugs use, this means the drug is relatively harmless and it's legality should perhaps be reassessed. But that's a pretty long bow to draw.
Where in these articles does the government say it is "winning the war on drugs"? I'd be very suprised to see that sort of rhetoric being used by any one these days...
Backo: Er... no one imports bunk pills. There is no point. We make enough speed here, and have access to ketamine via vets etc. The only reason people import MDMA is that there are no large scale labs set up for it's manufacture in Australia and it is more profitable to import from areas that do have such facilities (Northern Europe, Asia) than it is to make it here. This is the same reason why we import lots of things. Illegal drugs are subject to market forces as much as anything else.
Local manufacturers of bunks pills get busted all the time, it just doesn't make the news as often. A $100 million bust is far sexier than a bust of a $20,000 speed lab.
As for pill presses and binders, these are monitored as closely in Australia as precursors are, so of course if you can buy one in Malaysia and get it sent here it will be done. Sets off less alarm bells. Of course who knows how this syndicate got tumbled, might have been by the pill press company...
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Leprechaun
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Could be that one big player wanted another one out of the game...? I wonder if any of this powder WILL make it to the streets?
new_piller
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this from todays herald-sun, the article is a bit bigger than the previous two posted!!!
Huge ecstasy haul seized
By CHARLES MIRANDA and LILLIAN SALEH
28apr03
POLICE claim they have smashed a drug syndicate using home freezers to smuggle a record amount of ecstasy powder into Australia.
Five men were yesterday charged over the discovery of 170kg of ecstasy powder allegedly hidden in 36 home freezers.
The haul contained 85 per cent pure ecstasy that could be made into 440kg of tablets with an estimated street value of $92 million, making it the largest seizure of pure ecstasy in Australia.
Federal police said arrests of the men in dawn raids across Sydney and Malaysia over the weekend came after 12 months of listening devices, car traces and cyber intercepts.
Sydney's Parramatta Local Court yesterday heard the drug smuggling operation included the setting up of a bogus computer importing business, recruiting a man from a freight company that deals with Customs clearance and conducting a dry run before the real thing.
Another six people have been arrested in Malaysia and further arrests are expected in Sydney, including one man already in jail, and the Netherlands.
An Australian Federal Police statement tendered to court said agents launched Operation Taglia after learning in March 2002 that a large-scale smuggling operation was being planned.
One man was followed to the Netherlands where he had meetings in Amsterdam and Antwerp. He abandoned the visit after he allegedly discovered the police surveillance.
In October last year, the federal police's investigation suffered further setbacks when the suspects saw agents following them.
But the syndicate, according to the police statement, continued with the plan to import the drugs, hidden in a consignment of 36 domestic freezers.
Briton Andrew Phillip Riddell, 44, Nicolas James Pollis, 28, Matthew Shane Walsh, 29, Craig Andrew Small, 31 and Dutch national Wai Kwong Cheng, 38 are all charged with aiding and abetting the importing of a commercial quantity of ecstasy.
They will appear in Sydney's Central Local Court tomorrow.
Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison said the bust sent a message to other syndicates not to bring drugs into Australia.
"When you think that this could represent over a million tablets of ecstasy which has been stopped from getting into the Australian community, that is a significant amount," Mr Ellison said.
johnboy;"Of course who knows how this syndicate got tumbled, might have been by the pill press company..."
One man was followed to the Netherlands where he had meetings in Amsterdam and Antwerp. He abandoned the visit after he allegedly discovered the police surveillance.
In October last year, the federal police's investigation suffered further setbacks when the suspects saw agents following them.
But the syndicate, according to the police statement, continued with the plan to import the drugs, hidden in a consignment of 36 domestic freezers.
What dickheads, but its alot of ecstasy, they must have been very greedy!!!
Huge ecstasy haul seized
By CHARLES MIRANDA and LILLIAN SALEH
28apr03
POLICE claim they have smashed a drug syndicate using home freezers to smuggle a record amount of ecstasy powder into Australia.
Five men were yesterday charged over the discovery of 170kg of ecstasy powder allegedly hidden in 36 home freezers.
The haul contained 85 per cent pure ecstasy that could be made into 440kg of tablets with an estimated street value of $92 million, making it the largest seizure of pure ecstasy in Australia.
Federal police said arrests of the men in dawn raids across Sydney and Malaysia over the weekend came after 12 months of listening devices, car traces and cyber intercepts.
Sydney's Parramatta Local Court yesterday heard the drug smuggling operation included the setting up of a bogus computer importing business, recruiting a man from a freight company that deals with Customs clearance and conducting a dry run before the real thing.
Another six people have been arrested in Malaysia and further arrests are expected in Sydney, including one man already in jail, and the Netherlands.
An Australian Federal Police statement tendered to court said agents launched Operation Taglia after learning in March 2002 that a large-scale smuggling operation was being planned.
One man was followed to the Netherlands where he had meetings in Amsterdam and Antwerp. He abandoned the visit after he allegedly discovered the police surveillance.
In October last year, the federal police's investigation suffered further setbacks when the suspects saw agents following them.
But the syndicate, according to the police statement, continued with the plan to import the drugs, hidden in a consignment of 36 domestic freezers.
Briton Andrew Phillip Riddell, 44, Nicolas James Pollis, 28, Matthew Shane Walsh, 29, Craig Andrew Small, 31 and Dutch national Wai Kwong Cheng, 38 are all charged with aiding and abetting the importing of a commercial quantity of ecstasy.
They will appear in Sydney's Central Local Court tomorrow.
Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison said the bust sent a message to other syndicates not to bring drugs into Australia.
"When you think that this could represent over a million tablets of ecstasy which has been stopped from getting into the Australian community, that is a significant amount," Mr Ellison said.
johnboy;"Of course who knows how this syndicate got tumbled, might have been by the pill press company..."
One man was followed to the Netherlands where he had meetings in Amsterdam and Antwerp. He abandoned the visit after he allegedly discovered the police surveillance.
In October last year, the federal police's investigation suffered further setbacks when the suspects saw agents following them.
But the syndicate, according to the police statement, continued with the plan to import the drugs, hidden in a consignment of 36 domestic freezers.
What dickheads, but its alot of ecstasy, they must have been very greedy!!!
papermate
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my comments in regards to winning the war against drugs was in reference to the average joe watching a news report like that and saying, "good to see the cops are doing something about drugs etc.."
there has to be no doubt that the partial reason for the publicity is to create the image that the enforcement authorities are making ground in relation to curbing the drug culture.
my personal opinion is there has to be some regulatory body to control the trade, or there would be chaos in terms of manufactors/dealers wanting monoplies. at the moment it seems that the government is sort of in that role, although they obviously have an official no tolerance stance in terms of the manufactoring and distribution.
do you think its at all possible that the day will come that the content of pills will be ligitimately regulated, and even though it would be insanely difficult, the consumption limits of persons?
(like alcohol?)
there has to be no doubt that the partial reason for the publicity is to create the image that the enforcement authorities are making ground in relation to curbing the drug culture.
my personal opinion is there has to be some regulatory body to control the trade, or there would be chaos in terms of manufactors/dealers wanting monoplies. at the moment it seems that the government is sort of in that role, although they obviously have an official no tolerance stance in terms of the manufactoring and distribution.
do you think its at all possible that the day will come that the content of pills will be ligitimately regulated, and even though it would be insanely difficult, the consumption limits of persons?
(like alcohol?)
Urbanhog
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I have this theory..... Just because you see these "big hauls" in the media.... Sometimes it makes me wonder if the "Mr.Big's" actually give the "tips" that there's drugs coming into Australia to the Law Enforcement Officers, to distract the Feds/Customs using all their limited resources on the "tip" that was received from a "informat" so the Mr Bigs can send like 3-5 or even more shipments at the same time in different locations around Australia, I mean maybe the Mr.Big's allow the Feds to "find" the haul, I mean Australia has very limited resources for the size of our country's land area/coastal size. So they can get more shipments into Australia at the same time? Know what I mean here? I am bit wasted at the moment.
What I am trying to say, if I was a druglord.... wanting to send massive loads shipments to a country, I would try to send in 3-5 ships and "let" the Feds "find" 1 of the shipments so rest of the shipments can go thru undetected? For "Mr.Big" to lose one haul is nothing if they managed to get 3 or whatever hauls to get thru the country? They will still make a killing in profits.
Shit, I will try to explain more clearer when I sobbered up a bit.
Urbanhog %)
What I am trying to say, if I was a druglord.... wanting to send massive loads shipments to a country, I would try to send in 3-5 ships and "let" the Feds "find" 1 of the shipments so rest of the shipments can go thru undetected? For "Mr.Big" to lose one haul is nothing if they managed to get 3 or whatever hauls to get thru the country? They will still make a killing in profits.
Shit, I will try to explain more clearer when I sobbered up a bit.
Urbanhog %)
papermate
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/\/\/\
i tend to agree. i think that at the end of the day the majority of people including those who work for agencies do not have either the knowledge, or more so the influence to have a say in these "behind closed doors" decisions. ultimately i dont think that there is much we can do about it - it seems the nature of human behaviour and the way we trade and so forth results in this "corruption" so to speak.
however, i do have a patriotic feeling that even though there is a slight sense of pointlessness to all our lack of control over the situation, i feel that australians as a whole are not as susceptable to this corruption as other countries. my personal feelings come from associate who work in this enforcement industry and as cynical as they are about the whole thing, the still maintain the moral standing of, "whats right is right, and whast wrong is wrong, and they stand by the rules."
i tend to agree. i think that at the end of the day the majority of people including those who work for agencies do not have either the knowledge, or more so the influence to have a say in these "behind closed doors" decisions. ultimately i dont think that there is much we can do about it - it seems the nature of human behaviour and the way we trade and so forth results in this "corruption" so to speak.
however, i do have a patriotic feeling that even though there is a slight sense of pointlessness to all our lack of control over the situation, i feel that australians as a whole are not as susceptable to this corruption as other countries. my personal feelings come from associate who work in this enforcement industry and as cynical as they are about the whole thing, the still maintain the moral standing of, "whats right is right, and whast wrong is wrong, and they stand by the rules."
Minerva
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Nice theory Urbanhog, and dont worry, it made sense :D
I tend to think of it like 'for every 1 they find, 5 make it through'. So the big guys can afford for 1 to get caught and may not 'mind' if it happens as long as the get others through. It seems a bit silly to me to put all your eggs (pun!) in one basket. The amount of money these guys would lose by their only shipment of 170kg being discovered would be huge.
Or maybe they had made it through with a couple of previous attempts and just got greedy this time and the cops actually did all the hard work and made the bust legit...
Also the packing of the freezers, i would have thought theyd put it between the metal case and freezer lining instead of just plop in the middle. Wasnt howard on tv a couple of months ago showing off a new sea con. xray machine being installed at ports around oz?
I tend to think of it like 'for every 1 they find, 5 make it through'. So the big guys can afford for 1 to get caught and may not 'mind' if it happens as long as the get others through. It seems a bit silly to me to put all your eggs (pun!) in one basket. The amount of money these guys would lose by their only shipment of 170kg being discovered would be huge.
Or maybe they had made it through with a couple of previous attempts and just got greedy this time and the cops actually did all the hard work and made the bust legit...
Also the packing of the freezers, i would have thought theyd put it between the metal case and freezer lining instead of just plop in the middle. Wasnt howard on tv a couple of months ago showing off a new sea con. xray machine being installed at ports around oz?
It be interesting to know how much of the 15 % was inert additives (maybe people took a cut in Malaysia as it came through) and how much were impurities left over from the reaction. As illicit drugs go, its very pure, but it still shows that even the gear straight from ecstasy heaven has 10-20% of "unknown" ingredients. These guys are good, but they are still not a pharmaceutical company.
As far as the powder being imported and the pill pressing done here, i'd have to say i do not like it at all.
I think most people agree it is a trend that has been increasing over a while now.
Now i am the first to admit that this is mere guesswork, but many of the pills testing as MDXX today, appear far less "professionally" made/pressed than those from around 2+ years ago. Those were harder, bigger, less crumbly and generally more intricate - the kind you would expect from the massive pill presses in the MDMA labs in Europe, capable of pressing pills every second or so.
Yes those visual wonders still exist today, but the proportion of them seems far less.
But aside from that, the reason i do not like it, is MDMA labs in Holland make MDMA (prob occasionally MDA - but its still intentional); thus almost every pill coming out of Holland will be MDMA only and around 85% pure at that. Just like the powder we have seen imported here. If you export 80% or something of the WORLDS MDMA, you DONT need to be greedy! or dodgy!
But whose to say these Sydney "businessmen" did not have meth contacts, ketamine contacts, DXM contacts etc etc. I
t is certainly probable that they may have decided to milk this MDMA for all it was worth and add other ingredients, of who knows what origin -it will still test black!
A "how to make methamphetamine" book was apparently found in one of their homes; adding fuel to this idea.
Frankly i dont mind if pills are made here or not - i just hope we dont see the goal of finding pills filled with only clean-MDMA become more and more difficult if this trend continues.
It certainly only adds to the danger, of what already is of course a dangerous pastime, especially for those who know no better!
As far as the powder being imported and the pill pressing done here, i'd have to say i do not like it at all.
I think most people agree it is a trend that has been increasing over a while now.
Now i am the first to admit that this is mere guesswork, but many of the pills testing as MDXX today, appear far less "professionally" made/pressed than those from around 2+ years ago. Those were harder, bigger, less crumbly and generally more intricate - the kind you would expect from the massive pill presses in the MDMA labs in Europe, capable of pressing pills every second or so.
Yes those visual wonders still exist today, but the proportion of them seems far less.
But aside from that, the reason i do not like it, is MDMA labs in Holland make MDMA (prob occasionally MDA - but its still intentional); thus almost every pill coming out of Holland will be MDMA only and around 85% pure at that. Just like the powder we have seen imported here. If you export 80% or something of the WORLDS MDMA, you DONT need to be greedy! or dodgy!
But whose to say these Sydney "businessmen" did not have meth contacts, ketamine contacts, DXM contacts etc etc. I
t is certainly probable that they may have decided to milk this MDMA for all it was worth and add other ingredients, of who knows what origin -it will still test black!
A "how to make methamphetamine" book was apparently found in one of their homes; adding fuel to this idea.
Frankly i dont mind if pills are made here or not - i just hope we dont see the goal of finding pills filled with only clean-MDMA become more and more difficult if this trend continues.
It certainly only adds to the danger, of what already is of course a dangerous pastime, especially for those who know no better!