$77 Million Drug Bust at Jandakot
 

By Jim Kelly news.com
March 06, 2008 04:29pm

WA police have seized a massive methylamphetamine haul worth nearly $80 million after searching a plane which flew from New South Wales into Perth's Jandakot Airport.

The massive drug haul was on aboard a light plane which flew into Jandakot Airport. Police have and arrested and charged the pilot and passenger with drug-related offences.

Organised Crime Squad and State Security Investigation Group officers intercepted a Piper Aztec plane with two people on board which left from New South Wales on Tuesday and arrived at Jandakot around 5pm yesterday.

"The biggest Drug Haul ever in WA"

Maxweight

Detectives searched the twin engine aircraft and found a bag allegedly containing 22kg of methylamphetamine and 8.85kg of ecstasy (approximately 35,000 tablets).

The NSW pilot of the plane and his 24 year old passenger were both interviewed at the Organised Crime Squad offices and each was charged with Possess Methylamphetamine With Intent to Sell or Supply and Possess MDMA (ecstasy) with Intent to Sell or Supply.

Both men were due to appear in the Perth Magistrate’s Court today.

The approximate street value of the methylamphetamine seized by police is conservatively estimated at $75 million, while the street value of the 35,000 MDMA tablets is around $1.8 million.

The 37 year old pilot is the owner of the plane (valued around $130,000) which has been frozen under proceeds of crime legislation.

Organised Crime Squad officers are continuing their enquires with assistance from NSW police to determine the origin and the intended Perth destination of the drugs.

Securing regional and remote airports and identifying connected security and crime issues and light aircraft movements remain a significant focus of the State Security Investigation Group,
Organised Crime Squad, Regional Police Districts and other state and federal agencies.

OK who owns the Aztec.............:confused:

Gee lucky there was not a diversion required to Bali:ooh:

Hope they get what they deserve!:mad:

J

Judging by the amount of discarded water bottles outside nightclubs I would venture to say the supply gets through ok.:rolleyes:

I would say a "tip-off" must have been the order of the day. No sympathy to those involved. Looks like it might be a good chrissy party for the Feds tho :E

What a load of drivel....

Sooo... no plane... suppose they could just drive a car...

Apparently up here the local cops had bee trying to find out about some night vision goggled ops in and out of YCAB at night.

No lights on the a/c or the airfield:ooh:.

Some of these guys are well kitted out it seems. Until they hit a kangaroo on the strip:}.

J

Jaba, I hear Jabarus dont show up to well on radar either...:E

I was wondering how you fund your flying... PNG gold ? :eek:



A link for the News article -

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...7-1242,00.html

I suppose there is nothing (except the law, of course) to stop drug traffickers from airdropping their cargo at a pre determined DZ. Even at night, by GPS and NVG. The aircraft could even depart from a private property.
So how much effect do you think 'securing' GA airports would have?:cool:

Must say it is one way of building up your hours and funding aviation, seems the only way to make a living is to start with $hit loads to begin with and than start shelling it out along the way, paying for endorsements and surviving on bread and water till you manage to get that one job that still pays you below the national average.

Sounds like the police knew about the drugs pre-flight.
What does the delivery method have to do with anything... they could of driven a car, taken a bus, a train, a slow camel, from NSW to WA.

Reminds me of a good story, try the story written by POW Spike Nasmyth : The Boys Who Bring In The Crop.

A very good read, and its available on the net.

Powder to the People

..silly me...for the thinking the Eagles had cleaned up their act.:}

I'd be interested to see where Vh-pfd is from...

Flying Binghi

Nahhhhh no night rating:ok:

Jabiru's and other plastics do not show up well if they have the transponder off and are a reasonable distance away.

Pretty quiet too....so a stealthy NVFR machine if you did that sort of thing!

J:ok:

Traffic and Dr Okenfold,

Classic, got a good laugh from me.

Have any of the notorious eagles got an IFR rating?:}

Cheers

Just watching channel 10 news, pilots name and aircraft rego announced by police. Vh-PDF pilot was owner of aircraft.

VH PFD

Power Driven Aeroplane with tricycle-retractable landing gear
2 Piston engines

Manufacturer: PIPER AIRCRAFT CORP
Model: PA-23-250
Serial number: 27-4432
Aircraft first registered in Australia: 05 August 1970

Full Registration
Registration holder as of 18 May 2007

SANTOS AVIATION PTY LTD

24A Cook Street
TEMPE NSW 2044
AUSTRALIA

Registered operator as of 18 May 2007

SANTOS, Jamieson Andrew

PO BOX 1971
TAMWORTH NSW 2340
AUSTRALIA

I'm wondering why the ABC journalist thinks the Jandakot manager needs to defend himself :* over what is a Police matter.

Going with the lazy ABC journalists mindset, perhaps the Main roads minister should be under media scrutiny for allowing drug dealers to drive on the road and the Mayor of the local shire council should be getting some media heat as well...

Airport defends security
The general manager at Jandakot airport is defending security arrangements there following a record drug bust.
John Fraser says there is surveillance and airport staff work actively with the police.
Mr Fraser says Jandakot complies with federal security requirements.
"Nothing like this has happened before," he said.
"It's not a surprise. We work actively with the police. Right throughout the year there are security patrols and they have some surveillance at the airport."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...htm?site=perth

Couldn't agree more FB. No matter who pays their wages, all journalists are just looking for a scapegoat so they can scream a bigger headline. W@nkers, the lot of them. First against the wall come the revolution. Them and advertising executives.

I'm not sure I would want to buy the plane. Everytime you got tested with one of those thingies at the security check point you would come up positive for traces of that ecstacy stuff. You could never get rid of all traces. (not that I have tried of course...).

Of course on the up side you would always be higher than the plane :}

with 80 million dollars worth of drugs you would be about a mile high or 6 foot under...

Maybe the journos should be asking the question about security at the airport where the flight originated from, not its destination.

Can't wait of for the sale by tender notices to come out :E