Australian police say they have busted a major drug ring after seizing a record haul of methamphetamine and heroin worth $526 million (500 million Australian dollars) that was stuffed into terra cotta pots.
More than 674 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and 555 pounds of heroin were seized as part of an operation that began a year ago when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration tipped off officials that an international crime syndicate was planning to import drugs to Australia. Police targeted two massive cargo containers containing 3,200 terra cotta pots coming from Thailand.
X-rays of the containers showed what was probably drugs heavily packed into 100 pots, officials said Tuesday in Australia.
The pots were sealed with a putty-like substance to conceal the drugs, officials said.
"The actual concealment itself wasn't particularly sophisticated: terra cotta pots concealed in bulk on pallets within cardboard boxes and then shrink-wrapped," said Mike Pezzullo of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.
Officials from the two investigating agencies in Australia said it was the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country's history and the third largest of heroin.
Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner of Operations Andrew Colvin said that through the course of the investigation, authorities kept close watch on suspects as they tracked the shipment.
Four suspects from Hong Kong and three Australians were arrested as part of the operation, the Australian Federal Police and Australian Customs and Border Protection Service announced. The men face a maximum penalty of life in prison on charges of possession or attempting to possess commercial quantities of methamphetamine or heroin.
“This operation follows the AFP’s most successful year in terms of drug seizures," Colvin said in a news release. “In the 2011/12 financial year, the AFP and its partner agencies seized almost 14 tons of illicit substances bound for drug distribution networks across Australia."
Colvin said that was in large part due to the collaboration between international intelligence groups.
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I think there might be a little something wrong with the math in this story. $526 million for 1229 pounds means a kilo would cost $941,578. I've never personally tried to purchase a kilo of heroin or meth but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't cost nearly a million dollars.
They always do that (police) Just like the kid who ran a multi million dollar marijuana ring. They said each plant gave off over a pound. Which is genetically impossible for an indoor strain. 3 ounces maybe, and I saw pics of the plants. They would be lucky if he got 1oz per plant.
Probably talking about street value.
That was my thought, too.
Cut or uncut?
You're really surprised they inflated the numbers? Even their street prices are rarely accurate.
gram of crystal meth = ~ $80, *32 = ~$2500 per oz, *16= $~40,000 per pound, *674=$27.6 miillion.
gram of heroin= ~$172, *32= ~$5500 per oz, *16= ~$88,000 per pound, *674=$59.3 million
total= ~$87 million, using general US prices, and that's if they're breaking it down to gram cost. Still 6x less than the claimed amount... I wonder what math they're using?
Your first istake is expecting law enforcement to be honest about the value of any drug raid. Their first mistake is thinking we are all so stupid that we will take what they say at face value, which you clearly did not.
Bravo to you Sir!
Yes the orange doll went to the airport. It was silly but the dog did love the steak. I wasn't sure, but now I know it is true. However, one cannot tell the future what it will be.
The math does see a bit off. Looks like 16,000,000 doses or so weight.
But was the product not in street form yet, Was it still due to be cut?
So lets call it 32,000,000 doses. Is one dose of Heroin or Meth going for $21 a hit?
Or is it cut more than in half? I would say street value may fluctuate based on purity of product. I'm not an authority on the subject, but it seems that without that information there is no way to know.
obvious mistake – you forgot the value of the pots.
526 000 000 / 2703 (lbs converted to kilos) = $194 598.59 or $194 per gram.
I'm sure they have added in that they will cut it to stretch it out and I'm sure they use the highest market price, which would likely be a little higher than $80/g. Good call though on questioning their math. Maybe they had to test the batch before reporting the find. Lol
LOL, what were you using to do this math? It's 427,000, not 900,000.
And yes, still that's a bit inflated, street value after cutting it and selling in dime bags would probly be closer to $100,000 per lb.....in the USA, but Australia is a very expensive place, so maybe $200,000
I had the same thought and found http://www.havocscope.com/black-market-prices/heroin-prices/ which puts the price per gram of heroin at $50.4 per gram in Australia which is much less than the $943.4 per gram the police used if that entire shipment had been heroin. This article, http://www.investigatemagazine.com/oct03meth.htm, claims $600 to $1000 for a gram of meth in NZ. However, that heroin table has NZ at $717.4 per gram implying it's much harder to import drugs into that country. I did not find a reliable source for Australia but estimate $250/gram for meth.
Overall, the police number for thus bust is within one order of magnitude of the street prices. I also learned that someone could make a lot of money if they could get heroin out of Afghanistan to any westernized country.
There's no way that stuff comes out to ~$1000 per gram. This is beyond inflated.
Your math is off, it comes out to 427990 a pound. And that is high. But figure that if it is pure they can cut it a lot, maybe down to 10%. These are sold by the gram, 35 grams to an ounce, 560 to a pound, if the street price is $100 a gram it works out. Drug busts always calculate street price, not dealer cost.
Awesome
Do they even have trailer parks in Austrailia?
They ALWAYS claim that the haul is worth much more than it really is.....makes them feel that more important and successful !!
This is a huge amount, will make a small dent in the drug business. Hope they catch whoever it was that was sending it.
The math isn't quite wrong but grossly exaggerated. Whenever you see a drug bust they always inflate it to make it seem larger then it really is. Don't get me wrong that's a lot of stuff. Probably enough to get an entire small country high for months. But I think how they get there dollar figure is to break it all the way down to street level prices and multiply it that way. Obviously buying bulk is always cheaper, that goes for anything. They give the total price if every single part was broken down and sold individually and that's why the number is so inflated.
My question is:
If the DEA can help other countries (which is a good thing, admittedly), why can't they stem the flow that comes into this country every day?
They do, but they're stopping a stream flowing into the Mississippi
ack, I screwed up my math... I must be a drug bust agent lol
There is also only 28 grams in an ounce...
a quick google search shows that heroin goes for around 100k per pound, which would net around 55-60 million for the amount listed. Meth goes for much much less at around 30k per pound, which would net 20-25 million for the amount listed. My liberal math is a bit fuzzy but 25+ 60 does not equal 526....
Maybe they are referring to the street value of the drugs. It might be realistic, event though I suspect even the street value maybe be a little high
sooulds like grounds for the death penalty. that might stem the tide.
I wonder how many dead bodies will float up from the distibution end?
"I wonder how many dead bodies will float up from the distibution end?"
Not enough.
I'm with anonymous on this one. I don't know the street value of meth and Heroin in Australia, however in the U.S. a gram of meth goes for ~ $120 on the high side and a gram of Heroin goes for ~ $170. Given these numbers, those amount of drugs are worth approximately $80,000,000 in the U.S. The prices may vary for Australia though, considering how remote they are.
555lbs at $172/gram = $ 43,243,380 – Heroin
674lbs at $120/gram = $ 36,638,640 – Meth
You are not going to find a gram of pure meth unless your best friend is a cooker. It is always stomped on. If you find it 25% pure it is a good find. Everyone along the distribution line stomps on it, so buy the time it gets on the street the pound has grown into between 5 and 10 pounds.
@banasy©, the majority of the meth and heroin in the US is made in the US. The vast majority of the "flow" that comes in is Cocaine.
Considering the poppy plant doesn't grow well in the North American climate and is usually found being sold and/or trafficked by Narco-Terrorist from the Middle East, and it is a fact that most of the meth in the U.S. is made in super labs in Mexico by cartels; you are wrong.
Who cares about the value? Glad it is off the streets.
That's the decoy bust, there's 3 billion going through customs right now in stuffed kangaroos!!
But it's NOT off the streets. This is only so the simple-minded will think the 'War on Drugs' is making progress, when it hasn't done so for more than FORTY YEARS!
Can you name even ONE clean HIGH SCHOOL?
Who is winning the 'War on Drugs'? Because it ISN'T the government!