An Australian is facing charges after allegedly smuggling 300 kilograms of methamphetamine through the Port of Vancouver.
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An Australian man has been charged after an attempt to smuggle 300 kilograms of methamphetamine through the Port of Vancouver to Sydney in a container.
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The Australian Federal Police announced the arrest of the 23-year-old in a news release on Friday and said he would be appearing in a Sydney-area courtroom on a charge of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, namely methamphetamine. His name was not released.
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The offence carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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Sunrise
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The Australian police said they were contacted in October 2025 after the Canada Border Services Agency detected the methamphetamine hidden inside pressure washers packaged in 36 cardboard boxes and destined for northwest Sydney.
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RCMP officers removed the methamphetamine from the consignment in the Port of Vancouver and returned the boxes to the freight system, alerting Australian police, the release said.
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When the shipment arrived in Port Botany, southwest of Sydney, on Nov. 13, Australian officers “inserted an inert substance into the consignment to replicate the original weight and appearance, and conducted a controlled delivery,” the Australian force said.
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The shipment was then delivered to a shed in a community northwest of Sydney on Nov. 27, where two men, including the person charged, arrived at the shed that evening.
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“Both men were arrested by police, however the second man was released pending further inquiries. Further search warrants were executed at a Castle Hill home and vehicle, with officers seizing electronic devices and documents,” the news release said.
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Det. Supt. Morgen Blunden of the Australian police force said the seized methamphetamine had an estimated street value of $277 million Australian (about C$275 million) with the potential to be sold as three million street level deals.
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“Methamphetamine, like all illicit drugs, negatively impacts users and their families, and Australia’s economy and health-care system,” Blunden said in a statement.
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“The AFP has a close working relationship with law enforcement around the globe and share intelligence daily to ensure we are well positioned to defend Australia from these threats.”
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CBSA Pacific Region director general Nina Patel said the CBSA was committed to disrupting transnational criminal networks involved in drug smuggling.
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“We work alongside the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Border Force to combat organized crime and protect communities, both in Canada and abroad,” she said.
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Transnational organized criminals based in Canada have been working with their counterparts in other countries in recent years to smuggle methamphetamine into the lucrative Australian and New Zealand markets where a kilogram can fetch up to $200,000, compared to just a few thousand dollars here.
