<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>329216</docID> <postdate>2024-09-17 10:25:20</postdate> <headline>Foiled plan to import $400m of meth in juice bottles</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-329217" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/meth-in-fruit-juices-e1726532478646.jpeg" alt="" width="1014" height="675" /></p> <caption>The consignment of juice bottles allegedly contained 1280 litres of liquid methamphetamine. Photo: AFP</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Savannah Meacham</strong> in Brisbane</span></p> <p><strong>Three men have been charged, accused of being involved in a foiled plot to import $400 million worth of liquid meth concealed in fruit juice bottles.</strong></p> <p>Canadian authorities notified the Australian Federal Police (AFP) that a consignment of juice bottles allegedly containing 1280 litres of liquid methamphetamine had arrived in Vancouver from Brazil in May.</p> <p>The methamphetamine, believed to have a purity level of 89 per cent, has an estimated street value of $400 million.</p> <p>The illicit drugs were removed from the bottles and replaced with an inert substance before Canadian authorities sent it on to Australia.</p> <p>The shipment arrived in Brisbane on a container ship in September.</p> <p>AFP officers tracked the container during its delivery to a semi-rural property in Jimboomba, south of Brisbane, where it was stored in a large shed.</p> <p>Police raided the property and a shopping centre in Browns Plains and arrested three Queensland men – aged 30, 35 and 43 – on September 11.</p> <p>All three men were charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug which holds a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.</p> <p>The trio faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on September 12 with the 43-year-old Jimboomba man remanded in custody to reappear on Tuesday.</p> <p>The 35-year-old Jimboomba man and 30-year-old Buccan man were remanded in custody to face court again on September 20.</p> <p>If the drugs had been converted into crystal methamphetamine, it could have equated to four million individual street deals.</p> <p>AFP Acting Commander Adrian Telfer said the amount of methamphetamine would have had devastating consequences.</p> <p>"The cost to our society from four million hits of crystal methamphetamine cannot be overstated," he said.</p> <p>"This amount of liquid methamphetamine would have led to domestic violence, assaults and contributed to the road toll, as well as lined the pockets or organised crime."</p> </body>