USING raw frozen cow hides as a cover for smuggling methamphetamine, a Mexican national has been convicted of importing drugs into Australia, reports Fort Lauderdale's Maritime Executive.
In August 2019, a container arriving from Mexico at the Port of Melbourne was inspected by Australian police.
The cargo, described as 'Salty Bovine Skin Cuero Verde Salado De Bovino,' was found to contain 18 pallets of frozen, raw, untreated cow skins.
The investigators had to peel the smelly cargo apart to look for contraband and found 167 silver packages of high-grade crystal meth hidden between the cow skins.
The suspect, allegedly affiliated with a criminal gang, was arrested 18 days later and convicted of importing a commercial quantity of drugs in October.
He was sentenced to 22 years in prison, including a minimum of 15 years without parole. The investigators described the smell of the rotting cargo as 'putrid'.
'Hiding drugs in untreated cowhides presented a significant biological hazard for police extracting the methamphetamine. It also demonstrates the unsafe, disgusting journey drugs can often take on their way to a consumer,' said Detective Superintendent Anthony Hall.
'Officers skillfully disrupted the techniques employed by this criminal syndicate to run their illegal enterprises and collected overwhelming evidence of their attempts to coordinate the importation of harmful illicit drugs into our country,' he said.
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In August 2019, a container arriving from Mexico at the Port of Melbourne was inspected by Australian police.
The cargo, described as 'Salty Bovine Skin Cuero Verde Salado De Bovino,' was found to contain 18 pallets of frozen, raw, untreated cow skins.
The investigators had to peel the smelly cargo apart to look for contraband and found 167 silver packages of high-grade crystal meth hidden between the cow skins.
The suspect, allegedly affiliated with a criminal gang, was arrested 18 days later and convicted of importing a commercial quantity of drugs in October.
He was sentenced to 22 years in prison, including a minimum of 15 years without parole. The investigators described the smell of the rotting cargo as 'putrid'.
'Hiding drugs in untreated cowhides presented a significant biological hazard for police extracting the methamphetamine. It also demonstrates the unsafe, disgusting journey drugs can often take on their way to a consumer,' said Detective Superintendent Anthony Hall.
'Officers skillfully disrupted the techniques employed by this criminal syndicate to run their illegal enterprises and collected overwhelming evidence of their attempts to coordinate the importation of harmful illicit drugs into our country,' he said.
SeaNews Turkey