SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian police said Friday they had smashed an international cocaine smuggling ring spanning three continents and operating out of the Netherlands, Thailand and Canada.


The syndicate used an international network of drug couriers and while the quantities were not large, the shipments were frequent, assistant commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg said.


"They (the couriers) were ingesting bodily the cocaine between 200 grams (0.5 pounds) to a kilo (2.2 pounds) at a time, using predominantly condom packaging," Quaedvlieg told reporters in Canberra.


"We believe that the syndicate was using up to three to four couriers per month."


The smugglers are suspected of having brought up to four kilogrammes of cocaine into Australia every month for the past four years.


Police said they expected more arrests after one of the alleged major players appeared in a Melbourne court Friday.


Julian Robert Cazabon, 37, was charged with conspiring with three others to import cocaine.


Canada's Mounties were also involved in the international investigation because many of the couriers came from Canada.


"The cocaine and other drugs that were sourced by the syndicate were sourced from both South-East Asia and Canada," Quaedvlieg said.


The investigation into the drug ring was continuing and further arrests were likely, police said.


Cazabon's arrest Thursday came a day after the Australian Federal Police played a role in the separate arrest of one of the country's most-wanted men in the Netherlands, the national AAP news agency reported.


The 40-year-old Melbourne man, whose name has not been released, was arrested by Dutch police as he tried to board a plane in Amsterdam on a false passport.


He had been wanted by Australian authorities for three years after fleeing the country while on bail in 2003, and police are expected to seek his extradition.


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facking aussies

quote:

Originally posted by UmmiE "We believe that the syndicate was using up to three to four couriers per month." The smugglers are suspected of having brought up to four kilogrammes of cocaine into Australia every month for the past four years.

ROFFLE! Is this a joke? They busted an international drug ring smuggling 4 measly kilograms a month. Aussie police, you can give yourself a congratulatory pat on the back now - you've obviously won the war on drugs in Australia.

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it sounds measly, but those figures translate into millions of dollars within a few years. i think this article was meant to bring awareness to the logistics of the operation, rather than the quantity they were dealing with.

quote:

Originally posted by Rook it sounds measly, but those figures translate into millions of dollars within a few years. i think this article was meant to bring awareness to the logistics of the operation, rather than the quantity they were dealing with.

depends on purity of the cocaine, and how much they dilute, 4kg of coke can be worth millions on the streets

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quote:

Originally posted by chinamon not true. i say "ugh" but i am a tranny.

quote:

Originally posted by kotsy lol colour me retarded

quote:

Originally posted by Rook it sounds measly, but those figures translate into millions of dollars within a few years. i think this article was meant to bring awareness to the logistics of the operation, rather than the quantity they were dealing with.

Logistics? Smuggling coke by using mules that swallow condoms? That's the logistics in question here? That's like the most amateur way of doing it. The DEA has made busts of Colombian drug lords who were smuggling billions of dollars worth of cocaine over the border, and even those busts didn't make a dent in the overall supply of coke. Saying "measly" is still overestimating it. Try "atomic", or maybe "subatomic", lol. I bet more than 4 kilos of coke goes though one apartment complex in Scarborough per month, lol.

P.S. Math geniuses, street price of a kilo of cocaine in 2006 was $23,000 according to http://www.unodc.org/pdf/WDR_2004/Chap5_coca.pdf Giving you the benefit of the doubt, let's say it was $25,000. 25000*4*12 = 1.2 million a year. Yeah, huge operation fo sho.

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Last edited by Cosmic Fur on Dec-10-2007 at 03:11

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur the most amateur way of doing it

exactly, looking at the figures would you not consider it to be somewhat staggering, considering that they were using mules. I do. Shit, 5 million (without cutting the product) in four years, thats a decent income where im from.

im not saying its a huge operation, but, considering their means it was relatively profitable. wouldnt ya say..?

I think cosmic fur has the right idea...4 kilos is nothing in comparison to the cargo trailers full of tons of coke that the Columbian drug cartels import. So congratulations to the australian police on their huge bust...maybe next week they will find 100 pills of ecstacy that people smuggle by the dozen...

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quote:

Originally posted by Rook exactly, looking at the figures would you not consider it to be somewhat staggering, considering that they were using mules. I do. Shit, 5 million (without cutting the product) in four years, thats a decent income where im from. im not saying its a huge operation, but, considering their means it was relatively profitable. wouldnt ya say..?

OK, I think I see where our viewpoints differ. You say it's impressive that they smuggled 4 kilos a month using nothing but swallowing condoms, and I kept saying that it's not impressive because it's only 4 kilos a month, regardless of the method. Ok, on the point of using condoms, I'll agree, but only because it's the dumbest way of smuggling coke, and yet they were somewhat successful with it.

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quote:

Originally posted by Lightshow I think cosmic fur has the right idea...4 kilos is nothing in comparison to the cargo trailers full of tons of coke that the Columbian drug cartels import. So congratulations to the australian police on their huge bust...maybe next week they will find 100 pills of ecstacy that people smuggle by the dozen...

Australian Authorities never claimed it was huge. No one did.

I dont know why it says "major" in the thread title.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur OK, I think I see where our viewpoints differ. You say it's impressive that they smuggled 4 kilos a month using nothing but swallowing condoms, and I kept saying that it's not impressive because it's only 4 kilos a month, regardless of the method. Ok, on the point of using condoms, I'll agree, but only because it's the dumbest way of smuggling coke, and yet they were somewhat successful with it.