Australian police seize meth filled bra inserts

Australian police discovered millions of
dollars worth of methamphetamine hidden inside a
shipment of bras, part of what they said Monday was
the country's biggest ever drugs bust.
Officers found more than Aus$1 billion (US$712
million) of the lethally-addictive drug -- also known as
ice -- in a series of raids.
More than a quarter of the stash was hidden in gel
inserts used as padding for women's underwear.
Australian Federal Police Commander Chris Sheehan
said the sting began in December 2015 when the
Australian Border Force examined a shipping
container in Sydney.
"That shipping container was found to contain gel bra
inserts and hidden inside those gel bra inserts was
190 litres (50 gallons) of liquid methamphetamine,"
he said.
The seizure was referred to the Australian Federal
Police who began an investigation that found a
further 530 litres of the drug in storage units being
used for art supplies.
Three Hong Kongers and a Chinese national were
arrested during the joint operation with China, which
Justice Minister Michael Keenan described as the
largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine in
Australian history.
"This has resulted in 3.6 million individual hits of ice
being taken off our streets with a... value of Aus
$1.26 billion," he said.
"This largest seizure of liquid methamphetamine to
date is the result of organised criminals, targeting the
lucrative Australian ice market from offshore."
In January, a 33-year-old Hong Kong man was
arrested and charged in connection with the original
seizure.
A further two Hong Kongers, a man, 37, and a 52-
year-old woman, along with a Chinese man, 59, were
also seized and charged with knowingly taking part in
the manufacture of a commercial quantity of a
prohibited drug.
"We are alleging that the people we have arrested
weren't just mere bit-players, they were significant
players within this criminal network," said Sheehan,
adding that they all face life in prison if convicted.
The bust was part of a rare joint operation between
the Australian Federal Police and the Chinese
National Narcotics Control Commission -- the first
combined effort targeting the booming ice market.
The two sides are co-operating to gather intelligence
relating to concealment methods, trafficking routes
and syndicates that move meth from southeast China
into Australia.
"This critical international cooperation is already
paying significant intelligence dividends," said
Keenan.
The raid comes months after Prime Minister Malcolm
Turnbull unveiled a Aus$300 million strategy to
combat the growing use of ice, in the wake of a
government report that revealed Australia had
proportionally more users than most countries.
The report showed that the use of the drug had
doubled since 2007 to more than 200,000 people in
2013, with anecdotal evidence of higher current
numbers.
An Australian Crime Commission report published last
year found that while US$80 bought one gram of ice
in China, users in Australia had to pay US$500 for the
same amount.