An Indian national has been arrested in Sydney after allegedly importing 166kg of a precursor chemical used to make methamphetamine into Australia.
The Australia Border Force said officers at Port Botany targeted a sea cargo consignment arriving from India in early May and identified anomalies in three pallets which were declared as a food product.
Investigators then found pouches marked “Palm jaggery powder” containing 166kg of white powder, which allegedly tested positive for pseudoephedrine worth an estimated $5,600,000.
On May 11 the consignment was taken to a storage unit in Parramatta in a managed delivery by ABF officers who arrested the Indian man three days later when he allegedly attempted to collect the shipment.
The next day officers executed a search warrant at the man’s hotel room, seizing a laptop, three mobile phones, and business paperwork.
The man was charged with one count of importing a border-controlled precursor and remanded in custody to face Parramatta Local Court on Friday.
“Pseudoephedrine is an ingredient commonly used to manufacture methamphetamine that ultimately ends up on the streets of Australian communities causing untold misery, addiction and drug-related crime,” ABF Superintendent Shaun Baker said.
“A seizure of this size represents a significant disruption to the manufacture of illicit drugs and the criminal networks behind them.”
“This interception drives home the relentless pressure the ABF is applying to organised crime – our border remains a hostile boundary that organised crime cannot breach.”
Header image: Left, the man being arrested. Right, the pouches allegedly containing pseudoephedrine (ABF).
