Australia: Meth-filled van slams into police cars
July 23, 2019
A man driving a van loaded with 273 kilograms (602 pounds) of methylamphetamine with a street value of AU$200 million dollars (€125 million/$140 million) as crystal meth was arrested after he crashed into two patrol cars in front of a police station in Sydney, police said Tuesday.
Police spokesman Glyn Baker described the incident as "one of the easiest drug busts” the New South Wales police ever had.
Read more: Australia police make record meth drug bust
"This man has certainly had a very, very bad day. Crashing into a police vehicle with that amount of drugs on board is somewhat unheard of — it's an exceptional set of circumstances," he said.
Police located and stopped the van within around an hour of the incident, which was captured on CCTV.
The driver, a 28-year-old man, was arrested and charged with large commercial drug supply and negligent driving.
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Australians consume an estimated 9.6 tons of methylamphetamine per year, making it the most widely consumed illicit drug after cannabis.
According to government health figures, 6.3% of those aged 14 years and over have used the highly addictive drug one or more times in their life and 1.4% have used it in the past year.
cw/msh (AP, dpa)
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