Australian police on Thursday arrested three men who allegedly tried to smuggle more than 500 kilograms of methamphetamine into Sydney. It was their largest ever seizure of the drug, which is also known as ice.
A Singaporean and a man from Hong Kong, along with an Australian man, were arrested and will appear in court after police seized 585 kilograms of methamphetamine, believed to be worth $438 million, hidden in shipments of chemicals from China.
The haul was almost double the previous record of 306 kilograms (675 pounds) of the drug seized in Sydney in July last year, said Australian Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus.
The three men face life sentences and 1.275 million Australian dollar fine for commercial drug possession.
Negus told AFP the “sophisticated” syndicate went to “considerable lengths to escape detention” following a tip-off in September that led to the seizure.
Police and customs officials identified four suspicious shipping containers on Sydney’s ports in February and did not rule out further arrests in connection with the crime, according to The Associated Press.
