Australia seizes record $525 million drug haul

Police in Australia on Tuesday seized a record half a tonne of the drug ice and heroin, which was worth around $525 million.

The drugs were hidden in a shipment of terracotta pots that originated from Thailand. According to The Star, seven people have been arrested, which includes four people from Hong Kong, after a year-long investigation. This also folows a tip-off from authorities in the United States. According to The Australian, custom officers inspected the shipment but they chose not to seize the drugs right there and then. They decided to make a "controlled delivery operation" to the warehouse that the shipment was meant to go. According to CNN, officials said that this seizure is the largest seizure of meth that the country has ever seen, and as for the heroin it is the third largest seizure. Andrew Colvin, the police deputy commissioner of operations of the Australian Federal Police, said that authorities were keeping a close eye on the suspects as they were tracking the shipment. Colvin said that in regards to drug seizures this operation followed the AFP's most successful year ever. In 2011-12 the AFP seized around 14 tons of illicit substances that were meant to be delivered to drug distribution networks all across the country.