The bust is the third major seizure in a matter of weeks by border officials. The other two busts were in Arizona, including the seizure of 254 pounds of fentanyl, the largest ever bust for that drug, on January 31st and 3,500 pounds of marijuana and over 220 pounds of meth near Gila Bend.
A joint drug bust between Australian and U.S. authorities in mid-January resulted in a record 1.7 tons of methamphetamine being seized at Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport.
Customs and Border Protection announced the seizure of the three containers on Thursday, which were intended to be shipped to Australia before being searched on Jan. 11. The containers were filled with speakers “artfully” stuffed with the drugs.
“There’s no question that the criminal organization behind this scheme has been dealt a significant blow,” Joseph Macias, special agent-in-charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles, said in a statement. “Along with our law enforcement partners here and around the world, we continue in a day-to-day battle against the blight of methamphetamine that continues to devastate our communities. Through a collaborative effort — pooling our information, resources and expertise — we are keeping this dangerous contraband from reaching our streets and potentially saving lives.” In addition to the 3,810 pounds of meth, the shipment also contained 55.9 pounds of cocaine and 11.5 pounds of heroin. Australian officials said the total street value of the haul was $1.29 billion.
The bust was the largest amount of methamphetamine ever seized in the United States, according to police.
Authorities said six people have been arrested in the scheme — two Americans and four Australians. The Americans were identified by Australian police as a 52-year-old man and 46-year-old woman living in Woodstock, Victoria.
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govt must have had a falling out with the “criminal organization” and decided to send a message by taking their stash to fund some black op. So sounds like 2 criminal organizations having a dispute. Drugs will still hit the streets, just different people getting the cash.
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