Australian Authorities Make Largest Ever Onshore Ice Seizure

Australian authorities have seized the country’s largest ever onshore methylamphetamine (ice) consignment, after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers in Melbourne detected almost 1.6 tons of the illicit drugs – equal to almost 16 million drug deals – in stereo speakers originating from Bangkok, Thailand.

In a recent ABF targeting operation, officers selected a sea cargo consignment for further inspection at the Melbourne Container Examination Facility. An x-ray revealed anomalies within the speakers and when they were deconstructed, ABF officers found vacuum-sealed packages containing the drugs.

In total, 1.596 tons of methylamphetamine and 37kgs of heroin were detected with an estimated street value of A$1.197 billion ($838 million) and A$18.5 million ($13 million) respectively.

Last financial year the ABF made 43,000 detections of illicit drugs weighing more than 11.8 tons, so this seizure is equal to more than 13 percent of the total drugs we seized last financial year.

There have been no arrests and ABF and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are continuing investigations.

Last month, the ABF intercepted MDMA and cocaine worth more than A$140 million ($97 million) which arrived in a shipping container from Spain.