Eight men have been imprisoned in Australia for a combined 95 years and seven months following an international investigation into an organised crime syndicate’s failed 2023 plot to traffic more than six tonnes of methamphetamine in bottles of canola oil.
A New South Wales man, 27, is the final syndicate member to be prosecuted in Australia and was sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment in Coffs Harbour District Court (18 February, 2026). He will serve a non-parole period of two years and six months.
The eight men, arrested across Victoria and New South Wales, have been sentenced to a total of 95 years and seven months’ imprisonment for their roles in the illegal venture, which involved four separate consignments sent from Canada bound for Australia and a clandestine drug laboratory operating in Melbourne.
Operation Parkes was an investigation by the Victorian Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (VIC JOCTF) – comprised of officers from the AFP, Victoria Police Force and Australian Border Force – along with New South Wales Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Border Services Agency, New Zealand Police and New Zealand Customs Service.
Canadian authorities seized more than six tonnes of liquid and crystal methamphetamine – which would have amounted to almost 19 million individual street deals – hidden in four separate shipments destined for Australia.
Another 700kg of methamphetamine seized in New Zealand by local authorities was suspected to have been linked to the same Canadian distributors.
The investigation began in December, 2022, when Canadian authorities seized about 200kg of crystal methamphetamine – which had an estimated street value of $180 million – hidden in bottles of canola oil to be exported to Australia.
Canadian authorities alerted the AFP – which began Operation Parkes – when they found about 2900kg of liquid methamphetamine in January, 2023, in another consignment of canola oil ready to be transported to Australia. This shipment had an estimated street value of $720 million.
The illicit drugs were removed and replaced with an inert substance before the bottles of oil in the second consignment were shipped to Melbourne in March, 2023.
Under the watch of authorities, two Melbourne men, 41 and 34, collected the shipment and transported it to storage locations across the city using a logistics business.
Victorian JOCTF investigators arrested and charged both men, in June, 2023.
Further investigations identified two New South Wales men, 36 and 27, as being responsible for the collection, delivery and storage of portions of this large consignment when it arrived in Sydney from Melbourne. VIC JOCTF investigators charged the men in February, 2024, following a joint investigation with NSW Police.
Three other Victorian men, 31, 28 and 22, were also arrested and charged in June, 2023. The men operated a clandestine laboratory in Melbourne, where a large quantity of cocaine, methamphetamine and equipment used to manufacture drugs was located. Investigators also seized a large quantity of cash and two imitation firearms.
Canadian authorities seized another two separate shipments of liquid methamphetamine in May, 2023 – about 325kg with an estimated street value of $81 million and about 2900kg with an estimated street value of $717 million.
In January, 2023, New Zealand Police and New Zealand Customs seized 713kg of crystal methamphetamine and charged six people. The AFP suspects those drugs were sourced from the same organised crime group accused of trying to smuggle methamphetamine to Australia.
The eight men jailed in Australia under Operation Parkes for their role in the 2900kg liquid methamphetamine seizure in January, 2023, were:
A Hinchinbrook (NSW) man, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of attempt to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, contrary to section 307.5(1), by virtue of section 11.1, of the Criminal Code (Cth).
He was sentenced to four years and six months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and six months.
A Melbourne CBD man, 41, pleaded guilty to:
One count of attempt to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, contrary to section 307.5(1), by virtue of section 11.1, of the Criminal Code (Cth); and
One count of traffic 1,4 butanediol, contrary to section 71AA of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic).
He was sentenced to 23 years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 11 years.
A Melbourne CBD man, 34, pleaded guilty to;
One count of attempt to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, contrary to section 307.5(1), by virtue of section 11.1, of the Criminal Code (Cth); and
One count of possession of (or attempt to possess) a drug of dependence, contrary to section 73(1)(c) of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic).
He was sentenced to 17 years and six months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of nine years and 10 months.
A Sunshine North (Victoria) man, 31, pleaded guilty to;
One count of attempt to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drugs, contrary to section 307.5(1), by virtue of section 11.1, of the Criminal Code (Cth); and
One count of traffic large commercial quantity of cocaine, contrary to section 71 of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic).
He was sentenced to 22 years and six months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 15 years and nine months.
A United States national, 28, pleaded guilty to;
One count of possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drugs, contrary to section 307.8(1), by virtue of section 11.1, of the Criminal Code (Cth);
Two counts of trafficking a commercial quantity commercial of methamphetamine, contrary to section 71AA of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic).
He was sentenced to 13 year’s imprisonment, with a non-parole period of seven years and 10 months.
A St Albans (Victoria) man, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of attempt to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drugs, contrary to section 307.5(1), by virtue of section 11.1, of the Criminal Code (Cth).
He was sentenced to six year’s imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years.
A Canley Heights (NSW) man, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of attempt to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported border controlled drugs, namely methamphetamine, contrary to section 307.5, by virtue of section 11.1, of the Criminal Code (Cth).
He was sentenced to five years and three months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years; and
A Melbourne CBD man, 54, pleaded guilty to;
One count of trafficking controlled drugs, contrary to section 302.4(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth);
One count of possession of (or attempt to possess) a drug of dependence, contrary to section 73(1)(b) of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic); and
One count of fail to comply with an order under section 3LA(2) of the Crimes Act 1941(Cth), contrary to section 3LA(5) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth).
He was sentenced to three years and 10 months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and 10 months.
AFP Acting Assistant Commissioner Raegan Stewart said importations of large amounts of dangerous drugs threatened Australia’s national security and placed significant burden on the country.
