4 charged over 475 kg drug seizure in Australia's Queensland

Four men have been charged after Australian police investigating transnational organized crime seized 475 kg of illicit drugs.



The police force in the state of Queensland said in a statement on Thursday that officers executed simultaneous search warrants at 12 locations south of Brisbane on Wednesday and seized 90 kg of cocaine, 311 kg of ketamine, 58 kg of MDMA and 16 kg of methamphetamine.



Commercial-scale laboratory equipment and precursor chemicals suspected of being used in the production of illicit drugs were also seized from two of the locations, and four men were arrested.



The Queensland Police Service said that the searches were the result of an investigation into a transnational organized crime syndicate, the heads of which are believed to be coordinating drug trafficking across Australia from offshore using encrypted communication devices.



The four men, aged between 25 and 41, were charged with offenses relating to the possession, trafficking and production of dangerous drugs.



Police said that the seized drugs had a combined estimated street value of 20 million Australian dollars.