Smuggling In Style

"As the world becomes more interconnected, organized crime groups continue to expand internationally, seeking more direct access to lucrative foreign and criminal markets."

"A significant portion of the RCMP's Federal Policing investigations are focused on Transnational and Serious Organized Crime networks that traffic multiple commodities, within Canada and internationally."

Camille Boily-Lavoie, spokeswoman, RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)

Police in Australia discovered cocaine and meth hidden behind a headlight of a vintage Bentley luxury sedan shipped from Canada. Two men were arrested. Photo by New South Wales Police

Large loads of cocaine and meth were found by police in Australia with a value estimated at $135 million, hidden in areas inside a vintage Bentley luxury sedan shipped from Canada to Australia early in the month. The 1960 Bentley S2 had been placed in a shipping container, sent by sea. At arrival in Port Botany in Sydney the container was X-rayed by Australian Border Force agents, who identified suspicious anomalies.

The New South Wales Police were called upon, and further examination of the vehicle revealed plastic-wrapped bags of crystal methamphetamine stuffed behind the headlights. Police partially dismantled he car, leading officers to find 161 kilograms of crystal meth in bags, and an additional 30 kilos of cocaine wrapped into tight bricks. Authorities initiated a task force to investigate the importation, working with the RCMP.

Detectives backed by heavily armed members of the riot squad raided a residence in a Sydney suburb where two men, 20 and 23 years of age, were arrested. Police had removed the drugs, reassembled the car and had it proceed to its destination. Photographs of the raid reflect the distinctive lines of the metallic silver Bentley in a home driveway, under an open car port.

Police photographs of the raid shows the distinctive lines of a metallic silver Bentley in the driveway of a home, under an open car port. Photo by New South Wales Police

 

Photographs show the left headlight partially removed and left dangling; the left front tire off, tools scattered about. Police had waited for the recipients to begin attempting the retrieval of the load, before deciding to swoop in and make their arrests. About 740 kilometres north, close to Brisbane, a third, 25-year-old suspect was arrested, leading to the seizure of an additional 2.2 kilograms of meth and around $1 million in cash.

This incident follows hard on an earlier smuggling attempt when the country's largest ever seizure of fentanyl was effected. It had been shipped from Canada as well, hidden in an industrial lathe, similarly found to be suspicious looking, with X-rays revealing something amiss. That shipment that arrived in Melbourne, sent from Vancouver, also contained 11 kilograms of high-purity fentanyl and 30 kilograms of meth.

It appears that drug-rapacious Australians are hugely dependent on Canada for sourcing their illicit drugs. Early this year, two Canadian gangsters from Vancouver were found guilty of running a multi-million-dollar drug smuggling network, associated with Vice Media where interns for the group worked as drug mules, smuggling coke on flights to Australia.

 

It appears police removed the drugs, reassembled the car and allowed it to proceed on its journey to be delivered to whomever might be expecting it. Photo by New South Wales Police