NSW:Police smash newly-formed ice drug ring

AAP General News (Australia)
08-10-2011
NSW:Police smash newly-formed ice drug ring

SYDNEY, Aug 10 AAP - Police have smashed an ice drug ring they believe could have imported
hundreds of kilograms into Australia.

Five Malaysian nationals, arrested on Tuesday in Sydney and in Victoria, have been
charged with importing a prohibited drug.

Detective Superintendent Scott Cook, who leads the Asian Crime Squad of NSW Police,
says the drug network was in its infancy.

"The aspirations of the group were to import hundreds of kilos of ice to Australia,"

Det Supt Cook told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.

"They had aspirations to distribute drugs in Melbourne, in Sydney and on the Gold Coast."

All of the men were charged with supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited
drug and were refused bail to appear in various courts on Wednesday.

One was on his way to Sydney Airport, another was arrested at a restaurant in Chinatown,
in central Sydney. Those men, aged 28 and 48, were refused bail to appear at Waverley
Local Court and Central Local Court.

A 38-year-old man arrested in Cabramatta will appear at Liverpool Local Court, while
a 39-year-old man arrested in Hurstville will appear at Sutherland Local Court.

A fifth man, aged 23, was arrested by Australian Federal Police in Victoria.

Police allege about 2kg of ice and 2.1kg of heroin have been seized since the operation began.

They have an estimated potential street value of about $4 million.

AAP vpm/ra/wjf/ht

KEYWORD: ICE UPDATE

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