Australian policed said they seized the largest heroin shipment ever detected in the country, worth an estimated 140 million Australian dollars ($104m), and arrested a Malaysian national for the importation of the illicit drug.
The 450kg (990-pound) shipment – as heavy as a grand piano – was detected in a sea freight container of ceramic tiles sent from Malaysia and addressed to a Melbourne business, the police said in a statement on Saturday.
The police did not name the arrested man, a typical practice in Australia unless the police deem the identification of the suspect in the interest of a victim’s family or the public.The man was charged with importing and attempted possession of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment, the police said.
The Australian Federal Police was working with the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), said Krissy Barrett, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Southern Command.
“We continue to work together in identifying and disrupting transnational organised crime syndicates that seek to harm both our nations and generate millions of dollars of profits from criminal activity,” Barrett said in a statement.
The police believed the interception of the heroin saved 225 lives, based on their estimates that there was one death in the Australian community for approximately every two kilogrammes (4.4 pounds) of heroin consumed.
Australian police have arrested more than 200 people involved in organised crime after infiltrating an encrypted messaging app that opened up nearly 25 million messages about “industrial-scale” drug imports and murder plots, officials said.
They announced on Tuesday that the joint operation between Australia and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, which began in 2018, had ensnared criminals involved in the global drugs trade in Australia, Asia, South America and the Middle East.
Dubbed “Operation Trojan Shield”, forces in 16 countries monitored as members of the mafia, Asian crime syndicates and outlawed motorcycle gangs discussed drug deals, money laundering and even gangland hits.
Australia has struck “a heavy blow against organised crime – not just in this country, but one that will echo around organised crime around the world. This is a watershed moment in Australian law enforcement history,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Sydney.
Australia did not detail any arrests in other countries but said Interpol and the FBI would hold news conferences later on Tuesday.
The plan, which was conceived by Australian law officers and the FBI in 2018, saw officials in the US take control of a messaging app called AN0M, which authorities said was popular with organised criminals.
When an Australian underworld figure distributed the app to his associates as a secure means to communicate, law enforcement authorities could monitor all their messages.
“We have been in the back pockets of organised crime,” Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw told reporters at the same press briefing.
“All they talk about is drugs, violence, hits on each other, innocent people who are going to be murdered.”
‘Murder plot’
Kershaw said one murder plot involved plans to attack a caf̩ with a machine gun, while a family of five was also targeted Рattacks the authorities said they were able to prevent.
A total of 224 people were arrested on Monday and 104 firearms seized as well as almost 45 million Australian dollars ($34.9 million) in cash.
A total of 525 charges have already been laid but authorities expect more in the coming weeks.