Australia’s ABC News reports
NT police have charged three men for attempting to smuggle 132 kilograms of cannabis — worth about $2 million — into the Northern Territory in packages labelled “stone monuments”.
- Police charged one man on September 15 with supplying commercial quantities of a schedule two drug
- Two additional men were charged on September 16
- If found guilty, the men face up to 14 years in prison
“It’s the largest seizure of its type in the Territory,” Detective Superintendent Kerry Hoskins from the drug and organised crime division said.
“It’d be worth around $2 million.”
Superintendent Hoskins said detectives became aware of a shipment of five barrels arriving in Darwin from Adelaide, which appeared suspicious as there was no receiving information attached.
“When we do screening we look for particular things — how stuff is packaged, how it’s addressed, and that piqued our interest,” Superintendent Hoskins said.
“We basically waited to see who was going to pick up the package and monitored the package being delivered to a house in Humpty Doo.
“We later executed a search warrant and found a barrel of 60 pounds of cannabis at that address.”
Superintendent Hoskins said police also seized 12 firearms and $40,000 cash during the initial raid in Darwin’s rural area on September 15.
Police arrested a 30-year-old man who was later charged with supplying commercial quantities of a schedule two drug.
“Later we were aware that there was a second part of that consignment consisting of three barrels, so we then executed a search warrant at a freight company and seized the other three barrels,” Superintendent Hoskins said.
“Then the following day, the man attended to pick up the other three barrels and we arrested him and executed a search warrant at a Berry Springs address and seized another barrel.”
Police arrested and charged a third man during the raid on September 16. If found guilty, the three men face up to 14 years for supplying commercial quantities of a schedule two drug.
NT Police say the cannabis was packed in one-pound cryovac bags.
“A seizure of that nature will have certainly impacted the supply,” Superintendent Hoskins said.
She said drug traffickers were changing the way they attempted to smuggle drugs into the Northern Territory in response to COVID-19 travel restrictions and border closures — relying more on freight and mail than before the outbreak of the pandemic.
