CANBERRA: Australian authorities have netted almost two tonnes of cocaine and more than one tonne of ice in the past six months. Border Force officers in recent months have bagged 1.9 tonnes of cocaine, including the biggest ever seizure of the drug in the country’s history off the NSW coast. More than one tonne of methamphetamine has also been seized, including a single shipment of 540kg which arrived in Sydney from the US inside a sea cargo consignment.
About 300kg of precursor chemical Ephedrine — enough to make roughly 240kg of ice — has also been detected since Australian Border Force was established less than two years ago. “These are record-breaking numbers … they are driven by the very high profitability and sustained strong consumer demand of the Australian domestic illicit drug market,” Border Force boss Roman Quaedvlieg told a Senate hearing on Monday.
