Mexican drug cartels are targeting Australia, say police after busting a record A$1.29 billion of meth in joint US-Australia investigation
- The 1.7-tonne drugs haul – the largest seizure of meth in the US and the biggest haul bound for Australia – would have provided around 17 million hits of the drug
- Australian police say the investigation has exposed new links between Aussie biker gangs and Mexican cartels, which previously had been “sending smaller amounts” of drugs down under
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Six people have been arrested after a massive 1.7 tonnes of methamphetamine, with a street value of A$1.29 billion (US$900 million), was seized in a joint investigation by Australian and United States authorities that exposed new ties between Mexican cartels and Aussie biker gangs.
The illicit cargo – the largest single seizure of methamphetamine in the US and the biggest haul of the drug bound for Australia – was hidden in shipping containers labelled as loudspeakers, said US authorities. It was seized in mid-January at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex in California, along with smaller amounts of cocaine and heroin.
The meth haul would have provided around 17 million hits of the drug in Australia.
Australian authorities said the operation with the US Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Agency, Australian Federal Police and Victoria state police had stopped “a tsunami of ice” from reaching their shores.
The investigation appeared to reveal cooperation between Mexican cartels and Australian biker gangs, developing what authorities say is a worrying new vector for drugs to arrive to Australia.
“This is a serious warning, we now believe the Mexican cartels are actively targeting Australia,” said Assistant Commissioner Bruce Hill of the Australian Federal Police.
“They have been sending smaller amounts over the years, this is now flagging their intent. Australia is now being targeted. The cartel is one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking syndicates in the world,” he said, without naming the cartel involved.
Hill pointed to high Australian street prices and prevalent drug use as a “drawcard” for organised crime.
Colombian and Mexican cartels have long looked to local partners to open new markets for their produce and shift legal risk.
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Australian police indicated that the country’s biker gangs, with deep involvement in organised crime, were willing interlocutors.
Four Australians and two US nationals – a 52-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman – were arrested this week after a series of raids this month in Sydney and Melbourne, where “hundreds of thousands of dollars of proceeds of crime” were also found.
They face various charges, including attempting to import illegal drugs, and face maximum sentences of life in prison in Australia if convicted.
Police said that three of those arrested would appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday, charged with attempting to import illegal drugs. Two other Australians face the same charge.
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The operation also involved raids in British Columbia on Thursday by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which resulted in the seizure of “a significant quantity” of suspected proceeds of crime, police said.
Jason Halls, Victoria manager for the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, said the drugs would have had an “immeasurable” impact on the Australian community. He said sewage drug monitoring data showed Victoria state – which has a population of 6.3 million – was estimated to consume just over 1.8 tonnes of meth each year.
The previous record haul of meth seized in Australia was 1.17 tonnes in December 2017.
