Drugs

Men charged in two states over meth importations

A 28-year-old Queensland man and a 37-year-old West Australian man have been charged in relation to the importation of methamphetamine into Australia.

The investigation commenced after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers intercepted a package from Malaysia at a Perth air cargo depot on 26 July 2020.

The consignment was described as ‘flat pack shoe racks and shelves’ and addressed to a residence in the South West city of Bunbury.

An x-ray of the package revealed anomalies, and an ABF drug detector dog subsequently gave a positive reaction. What appeared to be a ‘gap filler’ like material was spilling out of the ends of some of the shelf legs.

It will be alleged that when officers deconstructed the legs they located approximately two kilograms of a crystalline substance that returned a presumptive positive test result for meth.

Four days later (30 July), a second identical package, this time addressed to the same name but at a Perth residence, was intercepted by ABF officers at a different air cargo depot.

They allegedly found another two kilograms of meth concealed in furniture legs.

On 31 July a third package from the same consignor in Malaysia was examined by ABF officers in Brisbane.

They allegedly identified meth weighing approximately 1.8kgs in eight furniture legs.

That matter was referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Queensland.

On Monday afternoon (14 September 2020), AFP officers conducted a search warrant at a home in the Logan City suburb of Hillcrest, where a 28-year-old man was arrested.

It will be alleged officers located over $491,000 in cash, an additional 1.8 kilograms of a substance believed to be methamphetamine and 1.2 kilograms of other substances, believed to be border controlled drugs.