Four Hong Kong men arrested after record Ice bust in Western Australia
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 10 September, 2015, 6:54pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 10 September, 2015, 7:59pm
Lana Lam
[email protected]
A member of Western Australia police’s organised crime squad poses with the drugs and cash haul. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Four Hong Kong men – two of them teenagers – may face lengthy jail sentences in Australia after they were caught with more than 321 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, the biggest ever seizure of the illicit drug Ice in Western Australia.
The massive drug bust also included the seizure of more than A$1.4 million (HK$7.6 million) in cash.
An 18-year-old Hong Kong national was arrested on Tuesday after police stopped him in his car.
Detectives were acting on intelligence from a national task force that tracks organised criminals through their illicit money flows.
Police then raided three locations – two homes and a hotel suite – in Perth and arrested three Hong Kong men, aged 19, 21, and 26, seizing more than 321kg of crystal meth.
The drugs were individually wrapped in 1kg units of Chinese tea packaging and hidden in ten suitcases and a sports bag, police said.
Three of the men were in Australia illegally with the fourth holding a visitor visa.
The four men all appeared in Perth Magistrate’s court on Wednesday and were remanded in custody.
More than A.4 million in cash was seized along with more than 321kg of the drug Ice. Photo: SCMP Pictures
The charges included possession with intent to sell or supply and possession of unlawfully obtained cash.
The joint operation involved Western Australia police’s organised crime squad and agents from the Australian Crime Commission’s Perth office.
Australian Crime Commission chief executive officer Chris Dawson said police had acted on information provided by a national task force called Eligo which tracks crime syndicates by tracing the flow of money from their illegal activities.
Dawson said “The taskforce will continue to work with our international posts and we are strongly impacting on the organised crime syndicates in South East Asia”.
“The 320kg-plus seizure could have resulted in 3,200,000 street deals of crystal methylamphetamine with a conservative estimated value of at least A$320 million (HK$1.75 billion),” he said.
Western Australia police acting deputy commissioner Michelle Fyfe said the investigation had stopped an alarming amount of the drug from reaching the streets.
The methamphetamine seizure is a record haul for police in Western Australia. Photo: SCMP Pictures
“The harmful impacts of this drug are well documented and a seizure of this size is further evidence of the crystal methylamphetamine problem in Western Australia,” she said.
The street value of Ice in Australia is one of the most lucrative in the world and demand for the highly addictive stimulant has surged in recent years, with the number of users doubling between 2010 and 2013.
Much of the Ice in this region originates from China, particularly Guangdong province, with Hong Kong as a key transit point, though local authorities deny that is the case.
The biggest ever seizure of Ice in Australia took place last November with almost 850 kilograms of the illicit drug being seized. Six people were arrested.
