WA Police arrested the men on December 30 after a joint agency investigation was launched when the Australian Border Force (ABF) found almost 100kg of drugs hidden in a 550kg shipment of latex bed pillows.
ABF and Australian Federal Police officers, with help from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Department of Home Affairs and WA Police, were watching as two men allegedly picked up boxes of pillows on December 29 and took them to a property in Maddington, southeast of Perth.
The two men were met by another two men and the group were allegedly seen by police unloading the boxes into a shipping container.
Three men went to the property the next evening and entered the shipping container where they accessed the boxes, according to police.
AFP and ABF officers then descended on the property.
The men were arrested after their van collided with a police vehicle while they were allegedly trying to flee.
“Criminal syndicates are looking to exploit this demand and sell methamphetamine in WA to maximise their profits, they do not care about the immense harm that this drug causes,” AFP Acting Assistant Commissioner John Tanti said.
He said while COVID-19 border closures have helped to restrict supply, demand for methamphetamine remains high.
The three men, aged 31, 32, and 35, have each been charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported border controlled drugs.
If convicted each face a potential penalty of life in prison.
Source: 9News
