By Cameron Lucadou-Wells
HOMES in Melbourne’s south east were raided as part of a joint police drug operation that seized in excess of $200 million of methamphetamines.
Police say the drugs were found suspended in liquid within bottles of carpet stain cleaner, and are believed to equate to 280 kilograms of pure methamphetamine.
The drugs have an estimated $205 million street value.
The bottles allegedly arrived in a shipping container at Port of Melbourne from Hong Kong.
On Monday, a 45-year-old Hong Kong national and a 31-year-old Canadian were arrested. They faced Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday charged with importing a commercial quantity of methamphetamines and the attempted possession of a commercial quantity of methamphetamines.
They face maximum penalties of life imprisonment and $1.27 million in fines.
As part of the operation, police raided residences in Noble Park, Narre Warren, Clayton South, Box Hill, Kew and Footscray on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The joint law enforcement operation involved Australian Federal Police, Australian Crime Commission, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and Victoria Police, as well as international law enforcement agencies.
Customs and Border Protection’s state enforcement operations director Andrew Redman said the seizure was due to an ‘‘intelligence-led approach to targeting criminals at our border’’.
“Customs and Border Protection is alert to the increasingly sophisticated ways that criminals conceal these dangerous drugs in their attempts to evade detection,” Mr Redman said.
“We have the intelligence and the technology to target even the most sophisticated concealments.”
Police haven’t ruled out further arrests.
