Four charged after raids on labs, properties in Sydney

A foreign national is among four people charged over the large-scale manufacture and supply of methamphetamine after federal-NSW police raids in Sydney, police say.

The four people were arrested on Friday (October 11, 2024) after raids by Australian Federal Police (AFP) and NSW Police officers on five properties in southwest and western Sydney.

The AFP said they were alerted by Australian Border Force in September to the arrival at Sydney Airport of a 53-year-old Mexican-Colombian national with suspected links to organised crime.

That man has since been charged with manufacturing methamphetamine under the Criminal Code Act 1995.

The AFP allege that the man met with a Greystanes male, 33, in western Sydney on September 28 and that the 33-year-old is alleged to have transported a container suspected to contain precursor chemicals to this property.

The AFP said on the same day (October 11), they found a clandestine laboratory and a small cache of weapons, including an assault rifle.

They said officers allegedly identified the Greystanes man as having taken suspected drug manufacturing materials into a Wentworthville storage facility that he had rented.

When investigators searched the Greystanes man’s home, they seized about $1 million in cash, 12kg of cocaine, 10kg of methamphetamine and a dedicated encrypted communications device.

The Greystanes man has been charged with two counts of manufacturing methamphetamine, two counts of trafficking, and one count of dealing with property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

At another property in southwest Sydney, the AFP said their officers found a man, 34, allegedly performing a chemical extraction at a clandestine laboratory and about 120kg of methamphetamine. A woman, 47, was also arrested at the property.

They were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine).

All four people were expected to appear before Parramatta Local Court on Saturday, October 12, the AFP said.

NSW Police dismantled both laboratories.