An Australian man has been caught with a $140 million methamphetamine haul hidden in boxes after he crashed into a parked police car.
The 28-year-old crashed into a police vehicle parked outside a Sydney police station on Tuesday, causing significant damage, according to a police statement. Around an hour later, police pulled the man over and searched his van.
During the search, police found removal boxes that contained 273 kilograms (600 pounds) of methamphetamine.
Police estimated that the drugs had a street value of over 200 million Australian dollars — or $140 million in US dollars.
The man has been charged with large commercial drug supply and negligent driving. Police are also conducting a forensic examination of the van.
Last month, Australian authorities made the country’s largest onshore methamphetamine seizure when police found 1.6 tons of drugs hidden in a shipment of stereo speakers from Thailand.
Authorities said the record drug bust had an estimated street value of $1.2 billion Australian dollars, which is equivalent to $837 million US dollars. Along with meth, 37 kilograms of heroin was also found stashed in vacuumed-sealed packages inside the speakers.
In January, US authorities confiscated almost a billion dollars’ worth of methamphetamine bound for Australia, in the largest-ever seizure of the drug on American soil, Australian police announced after a joint operation. In that seizure, the drugs were found hidden inside electronic equipment.
