Drug syndicate unravelled after meth found in bakery mixers

Jun 06, 2023

The RCMP seized the drugs, replaced them with replicas, and sent the shipments on their way — one to Melbourne and another to Sydney

A transnational drug trafficking syndicate sending crystal meth and a tonne of meth-making chemicals from Canada unravelled in Australia after large stashes of the addictive drug were found hidden in air cargo being sent from Toronto.

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Canadian police replaced meth, that had been stuffed in the base of two identical industrial dough mixing machines, with a harmless substance and released the shipments for Australian police to follow.

The first man convicted on the Australian end of the investigation — named as the network's mastermind — was sentenced last week to 11 years in prison.

The probe began in October 2021, after Canada Border Services Agency agents at Toronto's Pearson international airport discovered large loads of methamphetamine hidden inside bakery mixers being shipped by air to Australia.

The RCMP was called in. RCMP officers in turn alerted Australian Federal Police (AFP) and a plan was hatched between them, according to Australian authorities.

The RCMP seized the drugs and put replicas in their place and the shipments were sent on their way, one destined for Melbourne and another for Sydney.

In Australia, border agents and AFP officers allowed the shipments to be delivered as intended — but under surveillance.

The mixer destined for Sydney went to a property in Wentworthville, a suburb. Police arrested Yuan Long Yang, 37, who police said organized the importation.

During a search of his home, police seized a further 1.75 grams of meth, five mobile phones and numerous SIM cards for activating phones.

That led investigators to a commercial building in Caringbah, another Sydney suburb, where police found a previous shipping consignment containing 40 plastic bags of a white powder, which turned out to be a tonne of methylamine, a precursor chemical used to make both meth and MDMA, known as ecstasy, police said.

Australian police then pulled the same sting — replacing the methylamine with a fake version of the powder and delivering it to its intended destination, another Sydney suburb, in December 2021.

That led to the arrest of the second man, 28, who was charged with providing material assistance to a criminal group.

In March 2022, a third man was arrested.

He is a 39-year-old worker with an Australian freight forwarding company accused of using his position to help import drugs. Police seized electronic devices, including a phone and laptop, which allegedly contained evidence of drug importation.

The mixer sent to Melbourne, that allegedly contained 140 kilos of meth prior to departing Toronto, had a more lively end.

It was shuffled about several locations in Melbourne, believed to be an attempt to see if it was being tracked by police. When it was collected, the tampering by RCMP was discovered and the mixer was hastily dumped in the woods, its panel door ripped open.

Investigators of that mixer delivery also arrested three men. They seized $1.5 million in Australian cash, drugs, a handgun, two long guns, ammunition, a motorcycle, and a clandestine drug manufacturing laboratory.

Police at the time said one of those arrested in the Melbourne probe was linked to the Rebels Motorcycle Club, a made-in-Australia biker club.

Meanwhile, Yang, the man behind the Sydney mixer, admitted facilitating the importation of methamphetamine and methylamine and pleaded guilty in October.

He was sentenced last week to 11 years in prison, with no parole eligibility for seven years. Charges against his two Sydney co-accused have not yet been settled in court.

AFP did not comment on connections between the near identical smuggling plots featuring similar quantities of the same drug, hidden in the same way in identical models of a commercial dough mixer, sent from the same place around the same time.

There is no information on any investigation of the Canadian end of the network. Both the RCMP and CBSA remain tight-lipped about it.

"The RCMP works in collaboration with domestic and international policing partners to address threats to Canadians and Canadian interests. The RCMP is unable to comment on this investigation as it is still ongoing and before the court in Australia," said RCMP Corp. Kim Chamberland.

Maria Ladouceur, a spokeswoman for CBSA, confirmed Toronto area border services officers were involved in the operation in collaboration with the RCMP.

"The Canada Border Services Agency cannot provide further comment as it is an on ongoing investigation."

Australian authorities, however, praised both agencies.

"This outstanding operational outcome was achieved through close collaboration with RCMP and demonstrates the effectiveness of AFP officers posted overseas and RCMP Liaison Officers in Canberra," AFP Detective Superintendent Andrew Bailey said at the time of the arrests.

"A significant component of Australia's organized crime threats are based offshore or have substantial offshore links."

Canadians have been behind some of the largest and most noteworthy drug seizures in Australia.

Last summer, Australian police said the country's largest ever fentanyl seizure arrived from Vancouver inside an industrial lathe. There were 11 kilos of pure fentanyl and 30 kilos of meth inside.

That same week, police said large loads of cocaine and meth, worth an estimated $135 million, were hidden inside a vintage Bentley luxury car sent in a shipping container from Canada to Sydney.

In early 2022, two Canadian gangsters from Vancouver were convicted in Australia for running a multi-million-dollar cocaine smuggling network. They received sentences of 17 years and 14 years in prison.

In 2019, a music editor at Vice Media was convicted in Canada after recruiting young musicians, models, and former Vice interns to work as drug mules smuggling cocaine on flights to Australia.

Two Canadian women were caught in 2018 with suitcases full of cocaine on a cruise ship in Australia. Nicknamed the Cocaine Cowgirls, their trove of glamour photos shared on social media during their luxurious trip pushed the story into international headlines.

Tse Chi Lop, a Canadian citizen, is facing trial in Australia, accused of large-scale meth importation, after he was accused of being one of the world's top global drug kingpins.

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