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Canadian linked to drugs in BBQs jailed for four years

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An Australian court has jailed a Canadian national for a maximum of four years for his role in importing 645 kilograms of MDMA inside 200 charcoal barbecues sent from Cyprus.

The defendant was arrested and charged in December 2019 after a six-month operation by Australian and international authorities following a tip-off from Cyprus, Australian media reported.

The case stems from the discovery of a container shipped from Limassol to Sydney, stacked with 200 aluminium barbecues which were fitted with false base plates to conceal the drugs which had a reported street value of €25m.

He was accused of acting as a liaison for the criminal syndicate behind the importation, and was charged with aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring an imported border control drug.

The six-month drug bust involved the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, the Cyprus Drug Law Enforcement Unit and the United Kingdom National Crime Agency.

After discovering the drugs, authorities replaced them with an impotent substance and then delivered the barbecues to a warehouse in Matraville, in east Sydney.

The consignment remained at the property for more than three months and starting in October was transferred to another warehouse in Smeaton Grange in Sydney’s southwest.

In February, a man was sentenced to 23 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the export and possession of drugs.

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