Four Chinese men have reportedly been arrested in connection to the largest amount of liquid methamphetamine Australian police have ever seized.
The men, three from Hong Kong and one from mainland China, attempted to smuggle 190 liters of meth, also known as “ice” in its liquid form, from China to Sydney in gel inserts for push-up bras. Quartz reports that the men have also been connected to another 530 liters that authorities discovered in art supplies stored in five warehouses in Sydney. Australian justice minister Michael Keenan estimated the street value of the drugs to be around $900 million, and the bust kept 3.6 million hits of meth off the streets.
These arrests are a result of “Taskforce Blaze,” a joint Chinese-Australian police taskforce that was launched in November to investigate organized crime responsible for the flow of methamphetamine into Australia. According to a report by the Australian Crime Commission, meth has become the third most commonly used illegal substance in the country. Authorities believe these four people are central to the smuggling operation, and they could each be sentenced to life in jail.
Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announced last year that the government would be allocating $214 million to fight the importation and sale of methamphetamine in the country. These arrests provide validation that the initiative is effective.