Ecstasy hidden in a child’s toy led Australian authorities to a record-breaking cryptocurrency seizure.
According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald, Western Australian (WA) authorities seized a record amount of cryptocurrency from a couple attempting to transport ecstasy hidden in a child’s toy painting kit.
While screening international mail, Australian Border Force (ABF) officers found 27.5 grams of MDMA tablets and a similar amount of powder concealed inside the children’s toy. The report claims the package had been sent from the UK and was en route to the Perth metropolitan area.
The ABF officers alerted federal and WA authorities, which led detectives from the meth transport team to raid a property in Marangaroo where they seized more than 1.5 million AUD (~1.03 million USD) in cryptoassets.
A man and a woman were arrested and charged by authorities for their role in the drug operation.
Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Matthews, who was in charge of the drug and firearm squad, said of the record-breaking seizure,
While WA Police Force has seized millions of dollars worth of physical property and bank account assets in the course of several drug investigations, particularly those involving established criminal networks, the identification and freezing of over $1.5million of cryptocurrency in these circumstances highlights the current digital environment in which law enforcement agencies must operate.
Australian Border Force commander Rod O’Donnell said that his officers are awake to the “many creative methods” criminals are using to import drugs.
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