'Transnational' gang behind billion-dollar meth import

A massive haul of methamphetamine was found hidden inside industrial machinery. (HANDOUT/AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE)

Authorities are yet to catch the masterminds behind a near-$1 billion methamphetamine shipment seized before it could hit Australian streets thanks to an anonymous tip.

But the discovery of almost one tonne of ice inside two large machines in a shipping container at Port Botany will have a huge impact on the international crime gang behind the import, police say.

The Sydney-bound shipment was delivered from the United States in July before authorities removed the drugs and delivered the machines to a premises at Warwick Farm, in the city's west, on Wednesday, leading to the arrest of two men.

Almost 900kg of methamphetamine was found hidden inside industrial machinery.

One of the men was released, but the other man, aged 31, was charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug.

The offence carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The operation was prompted by an anonymous tip-off to Crime Stoppers and intelligence from US agency Homeland Security Investigations.

Australian Federal Police Detective Superintendent Peter Fogarty said the 896kg drug shipment, with an estimated street value of $828 million, was likely destined for the nation's east coast.

"This is a large shipment which would have made a lot of money and I think this will have a huge impact on this particular syndicate," he said on Friday.

"(It) is really a massive amount of drugs, so I think there is very much an organised crime syndicate behind this, a much bigger syndicate that has access to large sums of money."

A man being arrested
Two men were arrested, with one facing serious drug charges.

The smugglers, from a "transnational syndicate", tried to piggyback their illegal shipment by sending the delivery to a furniture shop with an import history, Det Supt Fogarty said.

He said police believed the role of the charged man, a dual Australian-Zimbabwean citizen with no criminal history, was just to receive the shipment.

The investigation was continuing and there could be more arrests, police said.

The Australian Border Force said it was a complex concealment and officers needed to deconstruct the machines to get to the drugs.

Officials nationwide are grappling with how to curb the use of meth, a potent nervous system stimulant that is the country's second most popular illicit substance behind cannabis, according to wastewater analyses.

In 2020, a NSW inquiry into harms caused by the drug made 109 recommendations to the state government but most of them, including decriminalisation, have not been adopted.

Huge meth bust
Authorities say the drugs were carefully concealed in the machinery.

The issue will again be in focus when a NSW government-led drugs summit, aimed at finding new ways to tackle the problem, begins in October. 

Methamphetamine was highly addictive and caused "enormous harm across our community", Det Supt Fogarty said.

"There is a strong demand for it so everyday drugs come into the country, I think this is another example of the lengths organised crime will go to to bring in drugs," he said.

"There are huge profits they can make at the expense of the harm that it causes to our community."

The 31-year-old man was refused bail at Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday and will return to court in October.

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