New South Wales authorities were notified of reports of bags of cash and crystal-like substances after workers discovered what turned out to be crystal meth.
The workers made the discovery while in the process of fixing a toilet pipe in Canterbury, a Sydney suburb in Australia. Authorities later confirmed that the workers had uncovered 1.1 million Australian dollars ($787,715) in cash and 485 pounds of crystal meth with an approximate street value of $31.5 million.
According to the 2019 National Drug Strategy Household survey, the drugs industry in Australia is a profitable operation for criminals with approximately 9 million people aged 14 and older having illicitly used a drug at some point in their lifetime and about 3.4 million have used an illicit drug in the last year.�
On Wednesday, New South Wales Police Force said in a Facebook post “Officers from Burwood Police Area Command declared a crime scene and specialist forensic officers examined the unit and a locked garage beneath the complex. During a subsequent search, officers located and seized 15 cardboard boxes containing almost 220 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (ice) with an estimated potential street value of AU$44 million. He went on to say that “other illicit drugs located during the search were MDMA (95 grams, 3.3 ounces) and cocaine (35g, 1.2 ounces) along with chemicals consistent with the manufacture of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GBH), gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), and ice.
NSWPF released CCTV footage of a man described to be Asian, about 5-foot 5-inches tall, thin, and between the age of 25 and 30 with short black hair. He was seen walking along Minter Street around 8:10 p.m. on July 9, 2021. Authorities believe that the man can assist them with their investigation
Police launched an appeal on Wednesday for information in a bid to learn more about what happened.