THE Australian Federal police say the seizure of 250 kilograms of cocaine today will seriously impact on the supply of the drug.
The seizure - the fourth largest in Australian history - came after police became suspicious about millions of dollars being transferred to bank accounts in Southeast Asia during January.
Three people faced court in Sydney yesterday. A 50-year-old man and two women aged 28 and 25, all from south Sydney, were charged with importing and trying to possess a commercial quantity of cocaine.
Joint Asian Crime Group Coordinator Detective Chief Inspector John Lehmann said $1.56 million in cash was seized during a related arrest of a 33-year-old man in Sydney's CBD last month. The man was charged with dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
He said collaboration between state and federal agencies was a key to the success of the operation. “We believe this is the second-largest seizure of cocaine to be made in NSW, with the majority of this illicit drug destined for the local market,” he said.
Police alleged the 250 kilograms of cocaine was concealed in one kilogram portions inside packets labelled “green tea”. The packets were contained in 10 boxes inside a shipping container of furniture.
As a result of intelligence, investigators from the Joint Asian Crime Gang inspected the shipping container when it arrived in Sydney last week from South-East Asia and discovered the shipment. They then substituted similar looking material to cocaine and monitored the delivery of the consignment to a factory warehouse in Auburn in Sydney's west.
Although more likely to be consumed in a penthouse than on the nation's streets, where cheaper alternatives of amphetamine derivatives such as ice are far more popular, police claimed the drug's “street value” was $87.5 million. High quality cocaine sells in Sydney for around $300-a-gram.
The three suspects were arrested on Tuesday after search warrants were executed at nine locations in Sydney, including Hurstville, Rockdale, Auburn, Glebe and the CBD.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione described the amount of drugs as “staggering.”
“This is 250kg of cocaine that will not be adding to Australia's drug misery,” he told reporters today.
The maximum penalty for importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug is life imprisonment or an $825,000 fine.
Findings from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre show that Australian cocaine users can be divided into two distinct groups. The first are well educated, fully employed users who occasionally snort cocaine, sometimes in conjunction with other drugs.
The second group are more marginalised users who typically inject cocaine as one of the drugs they use. Most users can be found in either Melbourne or Sydney.
Fewer than 1 per cent of people seeking treatment for drug rehabilitation are doing so because of cocaine usage.
ORIGINAL COPY:
Three people faced court in Sydney yesterday. A 50-year-old man and two women aged 28 and 25, all from south Sydney, were charged with importing and trying to possess a commercial quantity of cocaine.
Joint Asian Crime Group Coordinator Detective Chief Inspector John Lehmann said $1.56 million in cash was seized during a related arrest of a 33-year-old man in Sydney's CBD last month. The man was charged with dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
He said collaboration between state and federal agencies was a key to the success of the operation. “We believe this is the second-largest seizure of cocaine to be made in NSW, with the majority of this illicit drug destined for the local market,” he said.
Police alleged the 250 kilograms of cocaine was concealed in one kilogram portions inside packets labelled “green tea”. The packets were contained in 10 boxes inside a shipping container of furniture.
As a result of intelligence, investigators from the Joint Asian Crime Gang inspected the shipping container when it arrived in Sydney last week from South-East Asia and discovered the shipment. They then substituted similar looking material to cocaine and monitored the delivery of the consignment to a factory warehouse in Auburn in Sydney's west.
Although more likely to be consumed in a penthouse than on the nation's streets, where cheaper alternatives of amphetamine derivatives such as ice are far more popular, police claimed the drug's “street value” was $87.5 million. High quality cocaine sells in Sydney for around $300-a-gram.
The three suspects were arrested on Tuesday after search warrants were executed at nine locations in Sydney, including Hurstville, Rockdale, Auburn, Glebe and the CBD.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione described the amount of drugs as “staggering.”
“This is 250kg of cocaine that will not be adding to Australia's drug misery,” he told reporters today.
The maximum penalty for importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug is life imprisonment or an $825,000 fine.
Findings from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre show that Australian cocaine users can be divided into two distinct groups. The first are well educated, fully employed users who occasionally snort cocaine, sometimes in conjunction with other drugs.
The second group are more marginalised users who typically inject cocaine as one of the drugs they use. Most users can be found in either Melbourne or Sydney.
Fewer than 1 per cent of people seeking treatment for drug rehabilitation are doing so because of cocaine usage.
ORIGINAL COPY:
BRIEFED IN LATER EDITION
12 MARCH 2008:
John Stapleton
Sanna Trad
THE Australian Federal police celebrated the seizure of 250 kilograms of cocaine yesterday, claiming the size of the haul, the fourth largest in Australian history, would seriously impact on the supply of the drug.
The seizure came after police became suspicious about millions of dollars being transferred to bank accounts in Southeast Asia during January. Three people faced court in Sydney yesterday. A 50-year-old man and two women aged 28 and 25, all from south Sydney, were charged with importing and trying to possess a commercial quantity of cocaine.
Joint Asian Crime Group Coordinator Detective Chief Inspector John Lehmann said $1.56 million in cash was seized during a related arrest of a 33-year-old man in Sydney's CBD last month. The man was charged with dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
He said collaboration between state and federal agencies was a key to the success of the operation. ``We believe this is the second-largest seizure of cocaine to be made in NSW, with the majority of this illicit drug destined for the local market,'' he said.
Police alleged the 250 kilograms of cocaine was concealed in one kilogram portions inside packets labelled ``green tea''. The packets were contained in 10 boxes inside a shipping container of furniture.
As a result of intelligence, investigator's from the Joint Asian Crime Gang inspected the shipping container when it arrived in Sydney last week from south east Asia and discovered the shipment. They then substituted similar looking material to cocaine and monitored the delivery of the consignment to a factory warehouse in Auburn in Sydney's west.
Although more likely to be consumed in a penthouse than on the nation's streets, where cheaper alternatives of amphetamine derivatives such as ice are far more popular, police claimed the drug's ``street value'' was $87.5 million. High quality cocaine sells in Sydney for around $300 a gram.
The three suspects were arrested on Tuesday after search warrants were executed at nine locations in Sydney, including Hurstville, Rockdale, Auburn, Glebe and the CBD.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione described the amount of drugs as ``staggering.''
``This is 250 kg of cocaine that will not be adding to Australia's drug misery,'' he told reporters today.
The maximum penalty for importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug is life imprisonment or an $825,000 fine.
Findings from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre show that Australian cocaine users can be divided into two distinct groups. The first are well educated, fully employed users who occasionally snort cocaine, sometimes in conjunction with other drugs. The second group are more marginalised users who typically inject cocaine as one of the drugs they use. Most users can be found in either Melbourne or Sydney. Fewer than one per cent of people seeking treatment for drug rehabilitation are doing so because of cocaine usage.
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