Drugs: One of the biggest heroin smugglers in Australia caught

drugs
One of Australia’s biggest heroin smugglers caught

Police officers lead the smuggler away. photo

© Supplied/Australian Federal Police AFP/AAP/dpa

Hundreds of kilograms of heroin are said to have reached Sydney through him. Now he has been arrested.

Police have arrested what is believed to be one of the biggest heroin smugglers in recent memory. The Australian was arrested yesterday at the airport in the south-east Australian metropolis of Sydney following his expulsion from Turkey, the Australian Federal Police announced today.

The suspect is said to have been based in several countries since March 2020 and to have organized the smuggling of almost 348 kilograms of heroin from Thailand to Sydney in December 2020.

Police believe the man has “extensive connections” to transnational organized crime groups, the statement said. Turkish authorities first arrested him in January.

Police Commander Richard Chin praised the work of the authorities and the cooperation with Turkey. “Illegal drugs like heroin are causing significant damage to the Australian community,” he said. “They are a burden on our healthcare system and negatively impact every aspect of society.”

dpa

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