Ecstasy on the barbie: Australia seizes more than half a tonne of drugs smuggled in barbecues

[webfact]

Ecstasy on the barbie: Australia seizes more than half a tonne of drugs smuggled in barbecues

 

Still image from an Australian Border Force handout video released on December 17, 2019 shows some of the 200 aluminium barbeques used to smuggle 645kg of MDMA, in Sydney, Australia July 2019. AUSTRALIAN BORDER FORCE/Handout via REUTERS

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police have arrested two men for allegedly smuggling 645 kilogrammes (1,422 pounds) of ecstasy hidden inside hundreds of aluminium barbecues, the culmination of a six-month investigation spanning three countries.

 

In a statement on Tuesday, the Australian Border Force (ABF) said it had charged a 30-year-old man from Queensland and a 33-year-old Canadian national over their involvement in the criminal enterprise. At well over half a tonne, the haul of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, is the biggest shipment by weight seized in Australia this year.

 

The investigation remains ongoing and is expected to lead to further arrests, the ABF said. Police didn't disclose the names of the two men held, who each face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted.

 

The case began in July when police in the Cyprus Drug Law Enforcement Unit tipped off ABF counterparts about a potential large shipment of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, in a container shipping from Limassol and bound for Sydney. The investigation also involved the United Kingdom National Crime Agency, the ABF said.

 

On searching the container, the police found 200 aluminium barbecues, many with false base plates concealing multiple packages of the drug.

 

Officers swapped the MDMA for an inert substance and delivered the barbecues to a warehouse in Sydney, where it sat for more than three months.

 

Starting in late October, the barbecues were gradually shipped to another warehouse, also in Sydney, where the Australian suspect began to prepare the drugs for distribution, the ABF said.

 

The Canadian suspect arrived in Sydney last week to visit the warehouse and was arrested in Brisbane on Monday.

 

"It will be alleged in court that he acted as a liaison for the criminal group responsible for importing the MDMA," the ABF said.

 

The Australian suspect was also arrested on Monday, while about A$300,000 ($204,000) in cash and 3.5 kg of cocaine were also seized.

 

The arrests come as the ABF invests heavily in new technologies allowing officers to see further into shipping containers than ever before, ABF Regional Commander for New South Wales, Danielle Yannopoulos, said in the statement.

 

"Just this year we've found illicit substances in professionally manufactured car parts, fridges, furniture, and even an excavator," she said.

 

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-17

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[Credo]

Hmmmm ..... Well that explains the Aussie fascination with BBQ.

 

[MaxYakov]

5 hours ago, Credo said:

Hmmmm ..... Well that explains the Aussie fascination with BBQ.

 

Aussie ecstasy with BBQ. Or is it BBQ with ecstasy. Either way... 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2019 by MaxYakov

[Don Mega]

they look more like fire pits than BBQ's..... and aluminium.... yeah nah, not for me.

[DoctorG]

45 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

they look more like fire pits than BBQ's..... and aluminium.... yeah nah, not for me.

Certainly strange looking BBQs. Guess the importers were not really too worried about selling them afterwards.

[Gimino]

While the number and size of such 'busts' is commendable, the true measure

of success is the cost of the drugs on the street. That cost rises and falls given

the availability of the particular drug. Big busts = limited supply = higher cost on

the street. Ample supply = lower costs on the street.

[WalkingOrders]

Thank God! Nothing worse then people dancing until dawn in the Australian outback somewhere. 

[from the home of CC]

Australian prohibition has made the country the most sought after destination in the world for selling hard drugs. The toll on innocent Australians increases the harder they crack down and is more money in the pockets of the drug cartels which guarantees more dope is on the way. One day, people are going to wake up and see this folly for what it is..

[ThaiFelix]

I may be wrong but it seems to me one of the problems is caused by privatisation.  The Customs Dept was a 100% Commonwealth department.  People who worked for the Commonwealth Govt had jobs for life, good salaries and a guaranteed good pension.  In turn they were more dedicated and less prone to being corrupted.  I see now it has been privatised and just recently a husband and wife team of customs officials were caught turning a blind eye to Australia's largest ever methamphetamine shipment.

 

Can you imagine if the police force in this case had been privatised they would not have sat on that warehouse for 3 months because there wouldn't be any profit in it.  And I believe that is also the same reasons the culprits waited so long to go near it.

[from the home of CC]

1 hour ago, ThaiFelix said:

I may be wrong but it seems to me one of the problems is caused by privatisation.  The Customs Dept was a 100% Commonwealth department.  People who worked for the Commonwealth Govt had jobs for life, good salaries and a guaranteed good pension.  In turn they were more dedicated and less prone to being corrupted.  I see now it has been privatised and just recently a husband and wife team of customs officials were caught turning a blind eye to Australia's largest ever methamphetamine shipment.

 

Can you imagine if the police force in this case had been privatised they would not have sat on that warehouse for 3 months because there wouldn't be any profit in it.  And I believe that is also the same reasons the culprits waited so long to go near it.

I agree. Good wages, job security and pensions plus higher education standards for applicants will lower corruption (very evident where law enforcement agencies are not well paid ie Thailand, Mexico etc.) But when your talking about billions at stake the bad guys will always find someone who needs an extra million to look the other way. While this x was being dealt with tons could of already went through (and probably did). When it comes to this kind of cash, no country is immune. The drug mafias in the world are very thankful all this is all illegal and prohibited, I'm sure they contribute to the political parties whose platforms are staunch anti drug. Law enforcement also don't want drugs to disappear either as a indictable offence, without drug enforcement police and customs budgets would be halved at a minimum.  

[unblocktheplanet]

Curious: How many Ectasy pills would that be? And I would hardly call MDMA a 'hard drug'! Just sayin'...