A haul of methamphetamine and cocaine weighing more than 100kg and with a street value of approximately $80 million was allegedly seized nationwide within 24 hours.
Four suspected drug traffickers were arrested in three separate incidents at Melbourne Airport and Sydney Airport on Monday and Tuesday.
A 33-year-old Briton was arrested in Melbourne after allegedly arriving from Mexico with 12 blocks of a white substance wrapped in carbon paper. on Tuesday.
The Australian Border Force (ABF) said packages found in his suitcase weighed 26kg and preliminary tests indicated a positive result for cocaine.
In Sydney, 25 packets of white powder were allegedly found in the bags of a 38-year-old man with dual British and Northern Irish nationality who arrived from Thailand on the same day.
ABF confirmed Preliminary testing of the 1kg packages returned a positive result for methamphetamine.
On Monday, a New South Wales woman, 21, and a New Zealand woman, 23, allegedly arrived in Sydney from Singapore with 52 packets of white powder in their luggage.
ABF said the 1kg packages were labeled as Chinese tea but preliminary tests had also indicated a positive result for methamphetamine.
Four suspected drug traffickers were arrested in three incidents in Melbourne and Sydney over 24 hours on Monday and Tuesday, the Australian Border Force revealed.
In Sydney, officers allegedly found 25 packets of powder that tested positive for methamphetamine in the bags of a 38-year-old man with dual British and Northern Irish nationality who arrived from Thailand on Tuesday.
AFP Superintendent Morgen Blunden said officers were “closely monitoring the rise in drug mules” amid a recent rise in suspected drug mules.
“If 77 kilos of methamphetamine and 26 kilos of cocaine had reached our streets, they would have the potential to facilitate more than 900,000 individual street transactions,” he said.
‘This quantity of drugs had a combined estimated street value of more than $80 million and could cause tens of millions of dollars worth of damage to the Australian community.
“These arrests should send a strong warning to drug couriers trying to smuggle illicit drugs into Australia: no matter how you try to move your drugs, the AFP, along with our ABF colleagues, will be waiting for you.”
Acting Air Base travel commander Graeme Campbell said the amount of drugs seized was “immense”.
A New South Wales woman, 21, and a New Zealand woman, 23, allegedly arrived in Sydney from Singapore with 52 packets of white powder in their luggage labeled as Chinese tea on Monday.
Australian Federal Police Superintendent Morgen Blunden said officers were “closely monitoring the rise in drug mules” amid a rise in suspected drug mules in recent months.
The woman from the United Kingdom was charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and possessing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
Both charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The 38-year-old dual national was also charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
The 21-year-old New South Wales woman and the 23-year-old New Zealand woman were each charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.