Three St Albans men and a Deer Park man were arrested after a large-scale clandestine drug laboratory was discovered in Shepparton during a national week of action targeting illicit drug and organised crime activity.
On September 4, police executed a search warrant at a rural property in Toolamba, which was found to house a large sophisticated drug lab along with various chemicals and equipment including about 500kg of pre-cursor chemicals and large quantities of methylamphetamine and MDMA.
A 30-year-old Deer Park man was arrested and charged with a range of drug offences.
A subsequent warrant was also executed at a Braybrook storage facility on September 5, with police locating further equipment and chemicals.
A further three people from St Albans were arrested including a 40-year-old man, a 39-year-old man and a 38-year-old man.
The trio were all charged with a range of drug offences and all four men have been remanded in custody to face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on March 4.
The investigation remains ongoing and the Toolamba lab is still in the process of being forensically dismantled, police said.
The investigation was part of ‘Operation Vitreus,’ a joint initiative between all Australian state and territory police, Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre and New Zealand Police.
This year’s week of action ran from September 1 to 5, with Victoria Police seizing drugs with a street value of $14 million across the state.
Just over 70kg of various drugs including heroin, methylamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, cannabis and synthetic opioids were seized in Victoria, along with 550kg of various pre-cursor chemicals, 90 cannabis plants and just over 23L of 1,4-butanediol, police said.
Victoria Police arrested 194 people, issued 438 charges and executed 39 search warrants as part of the operation.
A total of $835,000 in cash was seized as well as 18 firearms.
Victoria Police organised crime division Detective Acting Superintendent Matt Volk said Australians are continuing to see increasing levels of illicit drug consumption within the state and nationally.
“As the cost of living has risen, we are not seeing the appetite for illicit drugs go down in any way. We know that Australians have consistently had a significant appetite for illicit drugs and as such, our willingness to pay a premium for them has made us an attractive market for serious and organised crime groups involved in the drug trade,” he said.
