Australia is receiving machines that can make more than 100 kg of methamphetamine in a single “cook.”
Decarboxylation reactors are Chinese devices that are apparently available for roughly $30,000 each.
One of these reactors was discovered inside a residence in Tyabb, on the Mornington Peninsula, and five persons were detained last week as a result, according to investigators from Victoria Police’s Clandestine Laboratory unit.
Two houses in Tyabb, as well as those in the suburbs of Wheelers Hill, Ferny Creek, Hillside, Ardeer, Clayton, and Sunshine West, were the targets of police searches.
Three men, ages 25, 30, and 31, have been charged with trafficking methylamphetamine in significant commercial quantities and in possession of materials necessary to produce the drug.
The same offenses as well as an attempt to traffic 1,4-Butanediol, often known as BD, in significant commercial quantities, were brought against a 41-year-old Wheelers Hill man.
All four have been ordered to appear in court in Melbourne on November 2nd.
A 66-year-old Ferny Creek woman was also arrested but released pending further enquiries.
The arrests were made following detections made by Australian Border Force (ABF).
Methylalpha-phenyl acetoacetate (MAPA), methylamphetamine oil, and a sizable amount of unidentifiable liquids that are now pending examination were all confiscated by the police.
“These are substantial seizures from what is (supposedly) one of the most advanced clandestine laboratories we have seen in Victoria,” said Detective Inspector Nick Allwood.
He said, “Illegal drug laboratories provide serious health and safety dangers to the population, and many of the chemicals used in drug production are highly volatile, explosive, or carcinogenic in nature.”
‘Residual contamination resulting from the manufacture of these illicit substances presents a serious risk to human and environmental health.’