A major international narcotics network smuggling drugs from West Africa to Australia has been dismantled following the interception of a massive 320-kilogramme shipment of methamphetamine from Ghana.
The multi-million pound operation unravelled at Port Botany in Sydney when Australian Border Force officers noticed irregularities in a pair of shipping containers arriving from Ghana.
Whilst the cargo was officially registered as commercial sacks of charcoal, standard X-ray screening uncovered a white crystalline substance hidden within the consignment.
Forensic analysis later verified that the material was methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of £162 million ($296 million AUD).
In response to the find, the Australian Federal Police launched a sting operation to monitor the domestic criminal network waiting for the illicit goods.
Officers replaced the contraband with a dummy load before permitting the containers to be moved to a commercial warehouse in Girraween, situated in western Sydney.
Undercover agents observed a British woman turn up at the depot to supervise a team of men unloading the containers.
A number of sacks were loaded into a vehicle and driven to a house in Blacktown. Moments after the vehicle pulled up, federal tactical officers raided the Blacktown property and apprehended the UK citizen at the scene.
The operation rapidly expanded to South Australia, where federal police carried out a simultaneous raid on a property in Oakden, Adelaide.
A local husband and wife were arrested at the address for their suspected roles in managing the logistics of the intercepted West African shipment.
All three suspects have been formally charged by the Australian Federal Police, whilst enquiries persist into the supply routes and global syndicates connecting Ghanaian ports to international distribution channels.
