Australian police intercept $3 mn drug smuggling

Sydney [Australia], July 4: The Australian Federal Police (AFP) charged two men over their alleged involvement in a transnational crime syndicate that imported 84 kg of ketamine into Australia.
The haul is estimated to have a wholesale value of $3.36mn Australian dollars ($2.3 mn US dollars). The police operation began in May this year, after the police received a tip-off about a criminal syndicate importing drugs hidden inside new commercial vans.
Police identified a cargo ship transporting two new vehicles which were suspected to have the drugs concealed in them.
When the ship arrived in Melbourne on May 15, police searched the vehicles, and found 79 plastic bags full of white powder concealed inside panels. An AFP spokesman said lab tests revealed the powder was ketamine, a form of horse tranquilizer.
They then replaced the bags with identical packages "containing a harmless substance" and tracked the vehicles as they were delivered to a Sydney car dealership. "Police were monitoring the vans when they allege the men stole one of them - which contained about half of the substituted drugs - removed the packages, placed them into another vehicle and then abandoned the van," a spokesman said.
They then tracked the vehicle to a Sydney suburb, before arresting two men on July 1.
The men, aged 28 and 29, appeared in Parramatta Local Court on Sunday charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs.
The men were both remanded in custody to appear again on Thursday this week.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
"Ketamine is a dangerous sedative known to be used illicitly as a drug," said AFP Acting Assistant Commissioner Kate Ferry. "Its dissociative effects block sensory brain signals and can cause memory loss, feelings of being detached from one's body and the inability to perceive dangers," she said.
The investigation into the organised crime syndicate behind the importation is still going on. Police have not revealed the origin of the ship, or the drugs.
Source: Qatar Tribune