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Australian and American police say they have smashed a multi-national drug ring, culminating in the seizure of A$16 million ($19.3 million) of cocaine and three Mexican nationals being charged.
Australian Federal Police believe the Mexicans are only part of the operation and hope their arrests will lead to the local arm of a highly sophisticated drugs syndicate.
"We believe the cocaine originated in South America and has had to transit through the US, into Australia, so quite a degree of planning involved in this attempt," AFP Assistant Commissioner Tim Morris said.
The 65 kilograms of cocaine was allegedly concealed in containers carrying cement cylinders, flower pots and statues, weighing 210kg each.
