SYDNEY, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Australian authorities have disrupted an "unusual" Mexican and West African organised crime cartel that attempted to import 140 kilograms of methamphetamine into Australia.
Australian authorities have arrested four dual nationals from Mexico and Nigeria, aged between 35 and 60, for attempting to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine hidden in 11 diesel generators from Mexico. They face life in prison if convicted.
"From an Australian Federal Police perspective, the teamwork between these two global organised crime syndicates is unusual," Chris Sheehan, the New South Wales state commander for the Australian Federal Police (AFP), told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.
The drugs with a street value of 80 million Australian dollars (58.92 million U.S. dollars) were hidden inside the generators in a bid to thwart the x-ray screening process at Sydney's container port.
While Mexican cartels had infiltrated Australia before with cocaine, Sheehan said that due to living "in a truly globalised world," they have now realised the potential profits that can be made by smuggling methamphetamine into Australia.
"It just proves the point that high-end organised crime groups will use any commodity to generate a profit for their activities," Sheehan said.
It's believed the two containers housing the 11 generators were transhipped via Singapore, and headed for local "Outlaw Motor Cycle Gangs."
Australian authorities are working closely with their partners in other jurisdictions, including Mexico and the United States in the ongoing investigation that has yet to arrest members of the cartel outside Australia.
