Cops bust huge China date-rape drug haul

Australian Border Force officers have stopped a massive alleged 22.6kg date-rape drug haul.

ABF officers cracked the alleged plot from October 1 after seizing two packages imported from China into NSW with liquid bottles that allegedly tested positive for 1,4 Butanediol, colloquially known as a “date-rape” drug.

The packages were marked for a Davoren Park address in Adelaide’s outer north.

A 35-year-old man allegedly accepted the packages in a police sting operation, the ABF said on Saturday.

“Officers substituted the drug with a harmless liquid and with the assistance of the South Australian Police, carried out a managed delivery to the Davoren Park address where the man accepted the packages,” the ABF said.

“ABF then executed search and seizure warrants at the property under sections 198 and 203 of the Customs Act 1901, where a number of items were seized, including the two recently delivered packages, two mobile phones, anabolic steroids, a CCTV hard drive and cameras, multiple bags of marijuana, and additional bottles which also tested positive to 1,4-Butanediol.”

The police have charged the man with importing a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs and possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border controlled drug.

1,4-Butanediol was declared a border controlled drug in March this year following reports of escalating harm from use of the drug, which can be substituted for gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB.

“While there are legitimate uses for bute as an industrial solvent, it is found to increasingly be used as an illicit substance or precursor, as it slows down the body’s nervous system when ingested,” ABF Inspector Steve Garden said.

“This makes it an extremely dangerous drug that unfortunately can prove fatal, while reports are on the rise of it also being linked to sexual assaults.

“Be assured our officers are on high alert to the illegal importation of bute into Australia, as criminal syndicates attempt to make profits from this dangerous substance with no care or concern about the harm and misery it causes in our community.”

The man appeared at Elizabeth Magistrates Court on Thursday where he was remanded in custody for a committal hearing on December 12.

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