A 21-year-old man has been arrested after ‘pink cocaine’ weighing more than 250kg was seized by Australian authorities.
The shipment, with a street value of almost $38million, is Australia’s largest bust of the new type of drug consisting of a potentially deadly cocktail of illicit substances.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said an investigation was launched into a transnational syndicate after the interception of the drugs in October.
The 252kg haul had been packaged with images of the Pink Panther cartoon character in air cargo marked as industrial and bound for suburban Sydney.
The AFP undertook a controlled delivery last week, where the shipment arrived at a Castle Hill address and was allegedly accessed by a 21-year-old Matraville man.
He was arrested in Coogee shortly after and charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border controlled drug, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
One Direction star Liam Payne, 31, reportedly had pink cocaine in his system when he plunged three storeys from a balcony to his death at the CasaSur hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October.
Preliminary results from toxicology tests found traces of cocaine, benzodiazepines, crack cocaine and ‘pink cocaine’ in his system
The 252kg haul had been packaged with images of the Pink Panther cartoon character (pictured) in air cargo marked as industrial and bound for suburban Sydney
The drug’s pink hue is made using food dye and it ironically doesn’t usually contain cocaine.
Instead, it is a potent mix of several drugs like the veterinary tranquilizer ketamine, the stimulant and psychedelic MDMA, and amphetamines like meth, though several recipes exist.
The drug is understood to originate from Colombia and has also been found in Europe and the United States, often containing other drugs such as the dangerous opioid fentanyl.
The substance was also found in the system of US singer Camila Sterling, 24, who was found dead in a luxury Miami Beach hotel suite last year.
And there have also been reports from Spain of teenagers dying due to pink cocaine, where police have described it as a ‘bomb’ for its effect on the body.
AFP Acting Superintendent Stuart Millen warned Australians the ‘dangerous illicit drug cocktail’ could put lives at risk.
‘The investigation is ongoing with our international partners and we expect that there will be more arrests to follow,’ he told reporters.
‘We cannot overstate the community harm this importation would have caused if it had not been intercepted by authorities before reaching our streets.
One Direction star Liam Payne died in October after falling from a balcony at a South American hotel. He had multiple drugs including pink cocaine in his system, according to preliminary toxicology reports
The shipment of the drug, which is actually a cocktail of various drugs, had a street value of about $38million
‘The AFP is closely monitoring an increase in pink cocaine detections, both in Australia and globally.’
Acting Supt Millen said the AFP had examined more than 130 kilos of pink cocaine in Australia in 2024, estimating it could sell for about $150,000 per kilo.
He said it was hard to detect the presence of pink cocaine in wastewater, as it was usually made up of other drugs so would show as MDMA and ketamine.
The charged man was refused bail at Downing Centre Local Court last Thursday and is expected to front court again in January.
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