Five charged following seizure of precursor in washing powder

01:09' 10-01-2017

Five men have been charged with drug importation offences and up to 300 kilograms of pure pseudo-ephedrine seized following a joint operation in Melbourne.

Australian Federal Police officer loads pseudoephedrine onto a table. Picture: AAP/Julian Smith

Picture: AAP/Julian SmithSource:AAP

This amount of pseudo-ephedrine has the potential to produce upwards of 210 kilograms of methamphetamine, which has a wholesale value of $42 million and an estimated street price in excess of $200 million.

Operation Haughton is a joint investigation between the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Victoria Police, the Australian Border Force (ABF) and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).

The five men aged between 27 and 48 were arrested on Saturday (7 January 2017) and search warrants were conducted at eight locations in the Melbourne suburbs of Burnside, St Albans, Sunshine, East Keilor and Tottenham. The consignment was located at a factory in Tottenham.

Police will allege the syndicate imported the pseudo-ephedrine mixture (arriving into Melbourne from Vietnam on 9 December 2016) in 57 boxes, hidden amongst over 900 boxes of washing powder. Australian Border Force officers at the Melbourne Container Examination Facility used intelligence provided by the ACIC to select the consignment for further examination and found that the powder tested positive for pseudo-ephedrine.

The total weight of the pseudo-ephedrine/white powder mix is 1,000 kilograms. It is estimated that about 300 kilograms of pure pseudo-ephedrine is mixed into the white powder, however the final amount will be determined following forensic analysis. Pseudo-ephedrine is a direct precursor of methamphetamine.

It will also be alleged the syndicate is responsible for a clandestine laboratory located in Werribee, Victoria, which produced in excess of 500 kilograms of methamphetamine.

All five men appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday (8 January 2017) charged with a range of offences related to importing a commercial quantity of border controlled pre-cursor, and trafficking a commercial quantity of a drug of dependence. Bail was refused for all five men and they will next appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday 13 January 2017.

The maximum penalty for these charges is life imprisonment.