A Mexican Drug Cartel Was Just Busted In Sydney

By

Published

July 26, 2014

In a bust that may or may not have been as badass as a set-piece from a Robert Rodriguez movie, the Sydney Morning Herald report that two men allegedly operating as part of a Mexican drug cartel were arrested at gunpoint in Neutral Bay earlier this weekend.

Federal police searched three properties on Friday, including one in Manly, and it is alleged that they found 30kg of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $30 million, along with automatic weapons and $2 million in cash.

Mexican nationals Federico Gonzalez Magana, aged 32, and Juan Vergara Rodriguez, aged 49, were arrested in connection with the investigation. They were refused bail at a hearing in Parramatta yesterday, and are now facing life in prison.

Methamphetamine use is becoming an increasingly serious problem in Australia, with health authorities greatly concerned about its long-term effects.

According to The Australian Crime Commission’s 2012-2013 Illicit Drug Data Report, detection of amphetamine-type stimulants at the border more than doubled compared with the previous year’s report.

The SMH report that Magana and Rodriguez were charged with “possessing a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs reasonably suspected to have been imported, and dealing in money greater than $100,000, reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime.”

They will face court again on Wednesday.

Image via Columbia Pictures