Authorities foiled a plot by two men allegedly high-ranking members of an international crime syndicate to smuggle methamphetamine into Western Australia hidden inside 3D printers.
Two men, aged 36 and 33, were arrested in July and October in Taiwan after one of them came to the attention of the Australian Federal Police during Operation Ironside, an Australian police mission that intercepted communications on a platform used by criminal organizations. .
“Intelligence indicates that he and his union were attempting to import quantities of up to 100 kilograms at a time,” AFP deputy commissioner Pryce Scanlan said in a statement on Saturday. “We suspect they were operating long before we started monitoring them and were involved in many other drug trafficking plots targeting Australia.”
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The Australian authorities allege that a 3D printer was planned to be used to import the methamphetamine into the country.
(AFP)
Operation Greenhill was launched to identify the criminal ring and authorities said a plot had been hatched to smuggle around 66 pounds of methamphetamine using 3D printers, police said.
The AFP worked with other national agencies and the US Department of Homeland Security to interdict the drugs in the United States before they reached Australia. Australian authorities helped identify the 33-year-old suspect and alerted Taiwan Criminal Investigation to find him in New Taipei City.
Further investigation led to the arrest of the 36-year-old man in October in the city of Taoyuan. Both men face life in prison.
The AFP estimates the methamphetamine would have sold for around $45 million based on Western Australian prices.
Scanlan said AFP was still investigating possible links to the union over thwarted imports to Western Australia and that investigators were looking at several countries.
An image of the methamphetamine that was intercepted that was supposedly destined for Australia.
(AFP)
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“This organized crime group has caused significant damage to the Australian community for a number of years, as well as causing damage abroad,” he said.
“We allege that this operation eliminated two senior members of a TSOC [transnational serious and organized crime] union and disrupted their gateway to import illicit goods into Australia, which is a significant victory for the community,” he added.
