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Queensland Police

Four UK men arrested as Aussie police seize €55 million worth of 'highest purity recorded' MDMA

Police say the powder was destined to be processed into 12 million ecstasy pills to be sold across Australia.

POLICE IN QUEENSLAND have announced the arrest of six people, including four Britons, following one of the Australia’s largest ever drug seizures.

A total of 766kg of highly pure MDMA powder was seized by officers in an operation targeting a UK organised crime gang. The huge haul had an estimated value of $90 million (€54.7 million).

The seized powder is the highest purity recorded in Queensland and police believe it was en route to be processed into up to 12 million ecstasy pills and capsules to be sold across Australia.

Officers arrested two UK citizens in Queensland, one man aged 51 and another aged 40, as well as a 26-year-old Australian man.

As part of the same operation, two other British men, aged 60 and 49, were arrested by police in New Zealand last week after 200kg of methamphetamine was seized.

A 51-year-old Australian woman was also arrested in New South Wales in connection with the seizure of approximately A$108,000 (€65,630) in cash.

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“We believe the drug would have been diluted with other agents and had the potential to make between six and 12 million capsules. This has a conservative value of $90 million (€54.7 million),” Detective Superintendent Jon Wacker of the State Crime Command’s Drug and Serious Crime Group said.

“Organised crime syndicates are making significant profit at the expense of our Australian community but more importantly they are placing our young people’s health at risk,” he added.

Katie Willis from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission said removing 766kg of MDMA from Australia’s streets would have an “immeasurable impact” on the illicit MDMA market.

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    Mute Peter Gavin
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    Jun 5th 2013, 2:11 PM

    Amazing list of accomplishments for someone who is only 42

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    Mute Robin Pickering
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    Jun 5th 2013, 4:13 PM

    And to think, if her parents had stayed in Ireland, she could have risen through the ranks of the ICA to become a Branch Secretary or even the lady that does the roster for cleaning the church.

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    Mute Michael
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    Jun 5th 2013, 1:47 PM

    Congrats to her.

    Will she condemn the US actions in the Middle East as terrorism?

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Jun 5th 2013, 2:00 PM

    Nope. She’s a cheerleader. She wouldn’t be where she is if she’d gone around telling the truth!

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    Mute Michael
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    Jun 5th 2013, 2:05 PM

    Sounds like a lot of this administration. Divide the country more and blame the republicans.

    As a famous man once said, “Bush is gone”.

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    Mute Danny Murray
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    Jun 5th 2013, 2:13 PM

    she called Hillary a monster :-) good appointment imo

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    Mute Aran Fitzpatrick
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    Jun 5th 2013, 1:52 PM

    This is the same woman that wrote a book entitled “A problem from hell”. The premise of the book was that the U.S. didn’t intervene enough in another countries affairs.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Jun 5th 2013, 1:59 PM

    Correct. She is a major proponent of ‘humanitarian intervention’ – a vile euphemism.

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    Mute Peter Gavin
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    Jun 5th 2013, 2:09 PM

    Yeah like those terrible times when they intervened in Somalia to try and protect the food supply to millions of starving people or when they went into Bosnia and kosovo to stop ethnic cleansing. How dare they!

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    Mute phunkyboy
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    Jun 5th 2013, 2:12 PM

    You obviously haven’t watch the film ‘The whistleblower ‘ starring Rachel Weisz . True story .

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Jun 5th 2013, 2:24 PM

    Peter — Can I interest you in a second-hand car?

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    Mute Peter Gavin
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    Jun 5th 2013, 2:39 PM

    Oh you’re hilarious Petr. Why don’t you entertain us with stories of the fantastic human rights record of your heros in Russia, China and North Korea then?

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    Mute Bob MacBob
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    Jun 5th 2013, 3:37 PM

    Anyone who actually read the book couldn’t but agree that the delays in intervention documented in the book were mistakes.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Jun 5th 2013, 4:02 PM

    But if you’d also read other books and used your own head you might arrive at your own independent conclusion.

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    Mute Aoife
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    Jun 5th 2013, 4:46 PM

    @ Peter: Somalia was a long, long way from an attempt to “protect the food supply to millions of starving people”. They didn’t even arrive at the right time or place to prevent the famine – the US (technically the UN, but the US were the largest contingent) went to Mogadishu, while the famine was close to the Kenyan border. (It was also mostly over by the time they arrived.) Instead, they ended up being drawn into the Somali civil war and, at one point, bombed a meeting of Somalis and killed 50 of them in an attempt to kill a Somali warlord. It was a utter debacle, and a terrible example to use if you’re trying to discuss the benefits of humanitarian intervention.

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Jun 5th 2013, 5:14 PM

    If the ruling classes of powerful states started acting altruistically to ‘save’ people here and there it would be the first time this has ever happened in human history.

    Powerful states and other powerful entities tend to behave in a way that protects their own narrow interests. Morality and humanitarianism have literally no place in a discussion of international relations. Those who, against all evidence, believe otherwise or at best deeply naive.

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    Mute steve white
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    Jun 5th 2013, 6:00 PM

    maybe the US ad other countries UK, France etc had aleady intervened and that was parrt of progrma

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    Mute steve white
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    Jun 5th 2013, 6:01 PM

    problem^ sorry for typos

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    Mute Jim Flavin
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    Jun 5th 2013, 6:06 PM

    @Peter Gavin
    the fact that other countries have a sbad o worse Human rights than USA is no argument to be joyous about the Human Rights in US – which are being removed with Patriot Act and NDAA – and increasing survelliance of the population .
    As for interventions – the US record of interventions is disastrous both by themselves and by proxy from Vietnam , to Chile , Chagos Island , Phillipines , Iraq , Afgahistan . Its a long list – like all imperialists they leave behind death and destruction .
    IF USA is so great – why dont they stay at home – they dont as they need to rob other countries to maintain their declining [ for the majotity ] standard of living .
    taken from John pilgers site – latest article
    ”The “mess” left by George Bush and Tony Blair in Iraq is a sectarian war, the bombs of 7/7 and now a man waving a bloody meat cleaver in Woolwich. Bush has retreated back into his Mickey Mouse “presidential library and museum” and Tony Blair into his jackdaw travels and his money.

    Their “mess” is a crime of epic proportions, wrote Von Sponeck, referring to the Iraqi Ministry of Social Affairs’ estimate of 4.5 million children who have lost both parents
    full article
    http://johnpilger.com/articles/from-iraq-a-tragic-reminder

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    Mute Conor O'Riordan
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    Jun 5th 2013, 6:23 PM

    I love the assumption that if you oppose the US’s foreign policies you must be an ardent supporter of Russia, China, North Korea etc. Can’t I hate everyone?

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    Mute Peter Gavin
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    Jun 5th 2013, 6:41 PM

    @aoife but the food aid was being delivered into the port of mogadishu and then intercepted by aidid and other warlords so that’s where the un forces needed to be
    @ Jim I’m not trying to portray the US as some paragon of virtue and I disagree with some of their actions certainly but they are dammed if they do and dammed if they don’t. Anytime they intervene somewhere they are condemned as imperialists but if they don’t then they are condemned as aloof and uncaring usually with jibes that there is no oil so they don’t care. Well there was no oil in Somalia or Bosnia or kosovo but they acted while Europe wrang it’s hands and did nothing. I remember the horror here when we saw the killing begin in kosovo but there were no protests against the Serbs. However the second The US started to bomb Belgrade there were demos from the usual left wing in Ireland against the Americans despite the fact that they were trying to stop the sort of ethnic cleansing seen in Bosnia. I just hate the knee jerk anti Americanism that is so common here despite them being a good friend to this country and all the ties of blood and culture

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    Mute Petr Tarasov
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    Jun 5th 2013, 6:55 PM

    I love the assumption that if you oppose the US’s foreign policies you must be an ardent supporter of Russia, China, North Korea etc.

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    Mute Jim Flavin
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    Jun 5th 2013, 9:25 PM

    ” They are condemned as being aloof ”.
    Now that is one word I have never heard about US . They go in guns blazing – unlike the Chinese – who do business .
    as for kosovo – again I refer to John Pilger – one of the few real investigative journalists left on Planet Earth http://www.labournet.net/balkans/9911/pilger.html
    the fact that there is no oil – well its not always about Oil – but Power and control
    What the heck did they do in Indonesia – the great eperiment in New World Order .

    Why did they bomb Laos – the most bombed country on Planet Earth .one could give many examples of US inetrference .- Why do they train death squds – to do their killing in other coutries eg Honduras
    the whole thing is sickening .They are a Terrorist nation with a Terrorist Foreign Policy – and this woman is now part of it – hardly something to be proud of .

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    Mute hsianloon
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    Jun 6th 2013, 11:29 AM

    Having it her way theyd probably have nuked the entire planet. But then they’d run out of people to terrorize.

    Mistake thinking a government can’t be a terrorist. Pity the British didn’t wipe the Americans out centuries ago….

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    Mute Brian Leddin
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    Jun 5th 2013, 1:54 PM

    She wrote a great biography of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN diplomat who was killed in Iraq just after the invasion in 2003. Not sure if her support for the intervention in Libya is something to boast about though. Time will tell.

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    Mute Diotavelli Smeesh
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    Jun 5th 2013, 3:10 PM

    Her article about the Clinton Administration’s lack of reaciton to Rwanda genocide, published in The Atlantic, is very good. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/09/bystanders-to-genocide/304571/

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    Mute vusi
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    Jun 5th 2013, 5:17 PM

    Obama have Irish roots so he taking care of his Irish families , love it

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