A Roxburgh Park man has been sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for his role in the importation of 266 kg of liquid MDMA concealed in pallets posing to be full of French wine.
The 26-year-old man was sentenced at the Melbourne County Court on Friday, March 15 after pleading guilty to one count of aid and abet the importation of a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs (MDMA).
The man was given a non-parole period of eight years and nine months.
He was arrested during a Victorian Joint Organised Crime Taskforce investigation that began in September 2022, following an Australian Border Force detection of 270 wine bottles containing liquid MDMA, concealed within an air cargo consignment from France.
The total amount of imported MDMA had an estimated street value of more than $14 million in 2022.
Police seized the MDMA before allowing the consignment to be delivered to its intended destination, being a self-storage facility in Hallam, in October 2022.
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent David MacGregor said transnational serious organised crime groups were driven by money and power and had no regard for the harm illicit substances inflicted on the community.
“The AFP cannot overstate the amount of harm that 266kg of MDMA could have caused to our community if it had not been intercepted by law enforcement,” he said.
“The death rate for psychostimulants in Australia, which includes MDMA, is almost four times higher than it was in 2000.
“Although MDMA is commonly used by individuals as a party drug, it can have devastating long-term effects on their mental health, and memory and cognitive impairment.
“The AFP will continue to work tirelessly with law enforcement partners to disrupt attempts made by organised crime groups to import large quantities of illicit drugs into Australia and profit at the expense of the community.”
Victoria Police Detective Acting Superintendent Dan Ryan “Our work does not stop with this result”.
“Alongside our law enforcement partners, we will look to chase up every avenue of enquiry possible as a result of this investigation and we will continue to disrupt the importation of illicit drugs into Victoria.”
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