Authorities thwarted a plot by two men, allegedly senior members of a world crime syndicate, to smuggle methamphetamine into Western Australia hidden in 3D printers.
Two men, aged 36 and 33, were arrested in July and October in Taiwan after one in all them got here to the eye of the Australian Federal Police during Operation Ironside, an Australian law enforcement mission that intercepted communications on a platform utilized by criminal organizations.
“Intelligence indicates that he and his syndicate tried to import quantities of up to 100 kilograms at a time,” AFP deputy commissioner Pryce Scanlan said in a Saturday statement. “We suspect they were energetic long before we began monitoring them and were involved in lots of other drug trafficking conspiracies in Australia.”
Operation Greenhill has been launched to discover the criminal network, and authorities have said there was a plot to smuggle around 66 kilos of methamphetamine via 3D printers.
AFP worked with other national agencies and the US Department of Homeland Security to intercept the drugs within the US before they reached Australia. Australian authorities helped discover the 33-year-old suspect and alerted the Taiwan Criminal Investigation to find him in Latest Taipei.
Further investigation led to the arrest of a 36-year-old man in October in Taoyuan City. Each men are facing life imprisonment.
AFP estimates that the methamphetamines would sell for around $45 million based on Western Australian prices.
Scanlan said the AFP was still investigating potential alleged syndicate ties to thwarted imports into Western Australia, with investigators taking a look at multiple countries.
“This organized crime group has been causing significant damage to the Australian community for a few years and has also been causing damage at sea,” he said.
“We consider this operation eliminated two senior TSOC members [transnational serious and organized crime] consortium and disrupted their transition to importing illicit goods into Australia, which is a major victory for the community.”