SYDNEY, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Almost half a ton of MDMA has been seized in Sydney, Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed on Monday, following a joint operation with Australian Border Force (ABF).
Three men, all in their 20s, have been charged in relation to the seizure, which has an estimated street value of around 40 million U.S. dollars.
The drugs were concealed inside four industrial mincing machines, used for making sausages, and shipped in a container from Turkey to Sydney.
"Our officers have the technology, skills and commitment to find these drugs and stop them from entering the country -- regardless of how criminals try to hide them," AFP detective superintendent Kirsty Schofield said.
ABF officers targeted the container for screening, with their examination locating approximately 60 two kilogram packages of drugs, in each of the four mincers.
After making the find, police switched the drugs for fake replacements and conducted a controlled delivery of the packages, which led to the arrests of the three men in Sydney's outer suburbs.
"Had this drug seizure made its way to Australian streets, countless lives would have been affected -- whether it be users, health care workers that deal with drug issues each and every day, or the family that has been torn apart when deaths occur from illicit substance abuse," Schofield said.
"Seizures like this don't address the issues of demand and why people are willing to risk their lives by taking drugs without accurate knowledge of what they contain, but stopping almost half a tonne goes some way to reducing the harm these drugs can cause our communities."
