LA Resident Arrested for Shipping Meth to Australia

Consignment of methamphetamine inside a large hydraulic press, shipped from the United States and seized in Melbourne (AFP) — Consignment of meth inside a large hydraulic press, which was shipped from the United States and seized in Melbourne (AFP)

U.S. authorities have arrested a Los Angeles resident on charges of attempting to smuggle methamphetamine out of the United States and into Australia. The alleged plot involved stowing large quantities of meth within more than half a dozen consignments of containerized freight.

Jing Tang Li, 32, a resident of the LA suburb of El Monte, has been charged with intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, along with corresponding charges related to exports. If Li is convicted of all charges, he could face up to life in prison, and the minimum sentence is at least 10 years.

The charges stem from seven containerized shipments that were intercepted and seized by U.S. Customs last year. Each was associated with a falsified shipper, and the contents were falsely described as a range of miscellaneous goods - furniture, carpets, casting and manufacturing equipment.

Taken altogether, the shipments contained more than a tonne of meth. This would have a wholesale value of approximately US$40 million if delivered in Australia.

Through detective work, U.S. authorities tracked the meth shipments back to Jing Tang Li. He was arrested next to a warehouse, and inside, LA police found an array of paraphernalia for weighing and shipping drugs, along with a package of methamphetamine. While the U.S. has historically been a destination market for illegal drugs rather than a transshipment point, that is changing, the authorities said.

“Being a mere three hours north of the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere has made Los Angeles a critical cog in the transnational narcotics trafficking trade,” explained Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang.

Just last week, the Australian Federal Police arrested four residents of Melbourne on charges of attempting to import 300 kilos of meth from the United States. The drugs were spotted inside a six-tonne hydraulic press during a security x-ray screening at the Port of Melbourne. In a follow-up inspection, customs officers drilled into the base of the press and discovered a white crystalline substance. Disassembly revealed wooden crates containing more than 300 kilos of methamphetamine. (The AFP did not explicitly connect this shipment to Li's alleged operation.)

Images courtesy AFP

“Methamphetamine continues to ravage our communities and remains the drug of most concern to Australian law enforcement,” Commander Stewart said. “This amount of methamphetamine could have been sold as more than 3,000,000 individual street deals, and we cannot overstate the community harm this would have caused if it had not been intercepted by authorities."