Australia, Indonesia police bust major drug ring

SYDNEY - Australian and Indonesian police have disrupted the largest pseudoephedrine smuggling syndicate to ever target Australia, halting the manufacture of about A$71 million ($86.76 million) worth of the drug methamphetamine.

The syndicate allegedly imported more than 380kg of pseudoephedrine into Australia on six occasions from early 2005, the Australian Federal Police said in a statement today.

The total drug haul could be made into more than 250kg of methamphetamine, which is used to make speed and ecstasy, said police.

Australian customs officers initially uncovered A$22 million worth of pseudoephedrine tablets hidden inside a shipping container at Sydney's Port Botany after arriving from Jakarta on June 13.

A joint Australian and Indonesian investigation uncovered another two million tablets in a shipping container on June 18.

Three men and a woman were arrested in Sydney yesterday and charged over the alleged drug-smuggling operation and will appear in a Sydney court on August 30.

"This operation has resulted in a major cross-border syndicate being dismantled," federal police agent Mike Phelan said in the statement.

- REUTERS