A drug syndicate scheme attempting to smuggle tons of liquid methamphetamine amid shipments of maple syrup and canola oil was unraveled Thursday, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Law enforcement agencies in Canada, Australia and New Zealand worked together to unravel the billion-dollar scheme and apprehend the suspects, according to AP.
Canadian authorities in January reportedly discovered nearly three tons of liquid meth stowed away in 180 Australia-bound canola oil bottles. Officers secretly replaced the narcotic with harmless packages and then alerted their Australian counterparts, according to the outlet. Australian police then tracked this and two subsequent shipments that arrived in May and June and arrested six men allegedly responsible for the smuggling. (RELATED: CBP K9 Leads To Seizure Of Over $4 Million Of Narcotics Inside Shipment Of Brussels Sprouts)
An Australian Customs officer inspects an x-ray of a container on a truck at the Customs Container Facility in Melbourne, Australia. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)
New Zealand police also reportedly arrested and charged members of the syndicate in a separate smuggling incident involving nearly three-fourths of a ton of meth hidden in a shipment of maple syrup, the largest haul of meth intercepted at New Zealand’s border, according to AP.
“Unfortunately, the insatiable appetite for illicit drugs in Australia makes us a lucrative market for organized crime,” Victoria state police assistant commissioner Bob Hill said in a statement cited by the outlet.
“The international drug trade and organized crime groups are creating havoc and harm in communities around the globe,” New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster told AP. “Our best opportunity to disrupt, intercept, and keep our communities safe is to work collaboratively with other agencies, and other nations.”