Police say fourteen foreign nationals have been charged over one of Western Australia’s biggest drug seizures, worth about $200 million.

The accused, eight Chinese and six Malaysian nationals, have appeared in closed court hearings this week charged with commercial drug importation offences.

In a press conference on Friday, authorities said police found about 200kg of methylamphetamine at properties in the Perth suburbs of East Cannington and Embleton after intercepting a commercial fishing boat off the WA coast near Geraldton three weeks ago.

The charges result from a joint operation involving Australia’s most powerful anti-drug agencies, including the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Federal Police and the WA State Police.

“The globalisation of crime has become so complex that the law enforcement response requires a high degree of sophistication and collaboration in order to combat transnational crime networks,” Acting Assistant Commissioner David Stewart said in a statement.

“Leveraging the capability of each agency is a powerful force multiply that delivers a significant impact on these criminal enterprises and protects Australians from harm,” he said.

WA Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Dreibergs said this quantity of methylamphetamine could cause immense harm in Western Australia as it equated to more than two million individual hits.

“It is the job of WA Police and its partner agencies to tackle the supply of this highly addictive drug in our community,” Deputy Commissioner Dreibergs said.

“The criminal syndicates that profit from the misery caused by ‘ice’ are firmly in our sights. We have achieved unprecedented success targeting the supply of this drug through strong relationships with our law enforcement partners combined with our local reach.”

In September last year, police confiscated more than 320 kilograms of methylamphetamine in WA’s largest drug seizure.

– with AFP