Canberra 22 August : Canberra, Aug 22 : Australian Border Force (ABF) reported on Monday that police have seized the biggest ever shipment of Fentanyl, which has stopped five million doses of the deadly opioid from hitting the streets.The drugs were found in in the lathe of an industrial wood shipped from Canada that arrived in Melbourne in December 2021, the news agency DPA reported the ABF as saying in an announcement.
ABF officers examined the box in February and found more than 60 kilograms of powdered materials hidden in ammunition boxes that resemble military ones, hidden within the lathe that weighs three tonnes.
Forensic investigators identified 11.2 kilograms of pure fentanyl.This is equivalent to around 5.5 million lethal doses of 30 mg, and about 30 kilograms of methamphetamine with estimated street values of A$27 million ($18 million).
A mere 28 milligrams of the drug could be fatal ABF said.ABF stated.
Australian authorities have said they’ve only detected fentanyl illegal importations in small amounts, with under 30 grams.
“This was a huge quantity of Fentanyl,”” ABF Commander Maritime and Enforcement South James Watson said.
“Fentanyl is a very hazardous substance to deal with and is a deadly drug to use.There is a fentanyl-related epidemic in several regions of the world at present which results in hundreds of thousands of deaths of users each year.” Watson added.
Australian Federal Police acting Commander Anthony Hall said it was recognized that criminal syndicates around the world were mixing illicit substances with the synthetic opioid resulting in an unintentionally dangerous mix.
“People who are using illegal drugs are never certain of what they are taking and this seizure reveals the potential for death of Russian roulette that they play.We do not wish to see Australia joining other nations in this dangerous game.”
