Some of the evidence found in the latest raid. Photo / Australian Federal Police
Some of the evidence found in the latest raid. Photo / Australian Federal Police
Three men have been arrested in Sydney as part of an international investigation into a Mexican organised crime syndicate suspected of importing hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine into New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong in recent years.
Police have been hunting those behind the syndicate since at least 2019 when 110kg of meth - with a street value of $55 million - was discovered by New Zealand Customs staff hidden inside golf cart batteries.
Two men were arrested in Auckland in February 2019 and charged with the import of the meth from Long Beach in California.
In February and March 2022, authorities in Hong Kong seized a further 447kg of liquid methamphetamine and 120kg of cocaine hidden in shipments of electrical transformers.
It is alleged all of the drugs were destined for Australia.
The pallets full of drugs that were destined for Australia. Photo / Australian Federal Police
In May 2022 the Australian Federal Police launched Operation Eldia - working closely with the Australian Border Force, Department of Home Affairs, US Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations in Canberra to “identify and disrupt the drug trafficking network of the organised crime syndicate”.
“A key breakthrough in the investigation occurred in February 2023, when CBP officers found more than 85kg of methamphetamine hidden inside 13 plastic pallets in Los Angeles,” an AFP statement revealed today.
“The 85kg methamphetamine seizure, which has an estimated Australian street value of more than $76 million, was reported to the AFP for investigation.
“The methamphetamine was removed in Los Angeles and the plastic pallets were then delivered to Australia.”
Once the pallets arrived in Sydney AFP officers “reconstructed” them to resemble the original, using an “inert substance” rather than the meth.
They then conducted a controlled delivery in Sydney.
The AFP alleges two US nationals aged 42 and 34 arrived in Sydney in April from Fiji and the US to facilitate this importation.
It said a 40-year-old Sydney man is alleged to be the Australian-based contact for the syndicate.
“It will be alleged the 42-year-old man was the principal organiser of the importation, while the other US man allegedly organised the logistics in Australia, such as renting a storage unit, transporting the pallets and purchasing tools and scales,” said and AFP spokesperson.
AFP officers during one of the raids. Photo / Australian Federal Police
“The AFP delivered the plastic pallets to a storage facility in the southwestern Sydney suburb of Bexley on April 26.
“It is alleged the three men later transferred the pallets to a different storage facility in Pymble, on Sydney’s North Shore.
On 27 April the US nationals were allegedly seen removing dismantled pallets and garbage bags containing unknown items from the storage unit.
“The AFP executed a search warrant at a unit in the Sydney suburb of Marsden Park later that day, where the US nationals were allegedly residing.
“Police seized garbage bags allegedly containing the reconstructed packages of substituted drugs from the plastic pallets, and a mobile phone allegedly containing photos of the reconstructed pallets and glass beakers with an unknown substance in liquid.”
The US nationals were arrested and charged with one count each of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, namely methamphetamine.
The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years imprisonment.
The Sydney man was later arrested and faces the same charges.
AFP Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy said shared intelligence with international law was “crucial to revealing the widespread operations of this drug trafficking syndicate”.
“The relationship the AFP shares with its international law enforcement partners was crucial to obtaining and analysing the intelligence that directly resulted in the seizure of 375kg of illicit drugs around the world.
“The arrest of three people here in Australia and their connection to a wider Mexican-based cartel gives us valuable insight into the operations of organised crime groups and will help us and our partners create a hostile environment for them to operate in.”
