Australia seizes $246M worth of drugs inside steamroller

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 7:31 AM EST, Wed November 21, 2012

Australian police seize $246 million worth of drugs smuggled inside steamroller.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Australian police have seized as much as $246 million worth of drugs stashed inside a steamroller sent from China after busting an international smuggling ring in Sydney.

A U.S. citizen, 33, and a Canadian, 34, have been charged with drug-importing offenses in relation to the confiscated methamphetamine and cocaine, Australian Federal Police said Wednesday. The charges carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The operation to seize the drugs resulted from a "complex and protracted" investigation over the past two and half years, police said.

The steamroller was shipped in from China, police said, and was tracked down at a storage unit in northern Sydney amid a series of searches. When officers searched the unit, they found the vehicle, dismantling equipment and 13 sports bags containing "blocks of compressed powder and a crystalline substance."

The blocks consisted of 235 kilograms (520 pounds) of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of up to 174 million Australian dollars ($180.2 million), and 115 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated street value of up to 63 million Australian dollars ($65.3 million), police said.

The Australian Federal Police cited experts as saying that data shows rising use of both drugs in the country.

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Australia seizes $246M worth of drugs inside steamroller