The crimefighting efforts of the AFP in 2023 has led to the seizure of tonnes of illegal drugs as part of efforts to combat serious organised crime activity in Australia.
The AFP’s Southern Command, covering Victoria and Tasmania, has disrupted sophisticated criminal networks with a series of significant seizures of imported drugs, as well as playing a role in dismantling the largest alleged transnational money laundering syndicate seen in Australia.
AFP Southern Command Assistant Commissioner Hilda Sirec said a number of major law enforcement operations in 2023 had made a significant dent on criminal activity both in Australia and offshore.
“The scourge of drugs on our Victorian and Tasmanian communities has been limited by the dedicated policing of the AFP, with tonnes of methampethamine, ketamine and cocaine taken off the streets as a result of major seizures,” she said.
“Our tireless dedication to protecting our communities from all elements of serious organised crime – from multimillion-dollar fraud activity to the drug networks looking to profit from Australians – will never waiver.
“Criminals should take note that if you wish to profit by inflicting pain and suffering in our country, you will be caught and face the brunt of the justice system.”
Operation Woodgate
In July, 174kg of ketamine with an estimated wholesale value of $6.9 million, was seized in Victoria in what was Australia’s largest seizure of the drug.
Three members of an alleged Victorian-based crime syndicate were arrested at Lara, near Geelong, and charged in connection to an importation of 80kg of ketamine hidden inside 360 tubs of liquid cement sent from Spain to Australia via sea cargo.
Police also located a further 80kg of suspected ketamine buried at the Lara address. Search warrants executed at an Altona home and two storage facilities at Yarraville and Williamstown saw police locate two gel blasters, about 25kg of suspected MDMA, about 14kg of suspected ketamine, along with an estimated $210,000 in cash.
Operation Improcco
About 622kg of methamphetamine hidden inside a shipment of toilet paper rolls was seized by the Victorian Joint Organised Crime Force (JOCTF), leading to the arrest of four men in October.
The investigation into a criminal syndicate suspected of drug importation, codenamed Operation Improcco, was launched by the JOCTF after a suspicious toilet paper shipment arrived in Melbourne via sea cargo from Malaysia.
THE JOCTF comprises members from the AFP, Victoria Police, ABF, ACIC and Department of Home Affairs.
It will be alleged 622 green and gold tea packages containing methamphetamine, each weighing 1kg, were located by forensic officers. The quantity is the equivalent of more than 6.2 million individual street deals and could be sold for an estimated $559.8 million.
As part of the investigation, search warrants were executed at a warehouse at Sunshine North and a storage facility at South Melbourne, along with homes in Box Hill, Blackburn and Glen Waverley.
The four men – two 33-year-old Chinese nationals, a Malaysian national, 34, and a Hong Kong national, 32 – were charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, contrary to sections 307.5(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth).
Operation Parkes
The AFP played a pivotal role in preventing more than six tonnes of liquid crystal methamphetamine, destined for Victoria, from arriving in Australia.
A five-month investigation, supported by other agencies, led to six men being charged in connection to a series of attempted drug importations.
It will be alleged a Melbourne man, 38, acted as a conduit for an organised crime network in Canada and was the primary onshore facilitator for the movement of one attempted methamphetamine import to Australia.
Another Melbourne man, 32, is alleged to have used his position in a logistics business to transport the consignment which contained substituted methamphetamine after its arrival in Australia.
Three men – a Sunshine North man, 28, a US national, 25, and a St Albans man, 19 – were charged following the execution of search warrants at their homes and a storage unit in Sunshine, during which officers allegedly uncovered a clandestine lab and drugs. A Melbourne man, 51, was also charged in relation to the AFP investigation.
All six men remain before the courts.
Major drug seizures
In October, a clandestine laboratory being used to produce methamphetamine was uncovered in an Epping factory unit following a search warrant executed by Victorian Police, with three alleged members of an Australian criminal syndicate charged in relation to possessing and manufacturing large quantities of the drug.
A commercial quantity of methamphetamine, as well as chemicals involved in the manufacture and extraction of the drug, were seized by the AFP.
In a separate investigation, one of the largest seizures of methylamphetamine and cocaine in Tasmania took place in November after a vehicle was intercepted, with the assistance of the Spirit of Tasmania staff, on its arrival at Devonport.
About 4kg of methylamphetamine and 2kg of cocaine were located and stopped from reaching Tasmanian communities
Child Protection
The AFP also played a crucial role in uncovering child abuse perpetrators, including an investigation which saw a Tasmanian man sentenced in August to two and a half years jail for possessing more than 22,000 files of child abuse material.
The 37-year-old was identified following a report from the United States’ National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children about an Australian-based user uploading child abuse material online.
In a separate AFP investigation, a woman involved in facilitating the biggest drug trafficking case in Tasmania’s history – overseeing the movement of 26kg of ‘ice’, and quantities of cocaine and ketamine from Queensland to Tasmania – was sentenced in August to 15 years jail.
