Australian police collaborated with United States federal agents to arrest a group of men accused of money laundering and drug supply.
Officers allegedly seized piles of cash, envelopes of drugs and a number of ATM machines used for cryptocurrencies during the Friday raids at different apartment blocks in Sydney.
NSW Police collaborated with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the US Department of Homeland Security on the investigation.
Officers arrested two men near an apartment block in Mascot at 4.45pm.
One of them, a 34-year-old, allegedly carried $120,000 in cash.
The other man, a 39-year-old, allegedly held $51,500 in cash and 13 envelopes with suspected cocaine, heroin and ice inside them.
About two hours later detectives assisted by riot squad officers executed search warrants at two apartments inside a unit block near where the earlier arrests were made.
The officers also searched a storage unit in Kingsgrove.
Police alleged the searches revealed about $4.7 million cash, money counters, electronic devices, as well as the crypto ATMs.
Officers also said they found 5 kilograms of drugs.
During the apartment searches a third man was arrested, a 45-year-old who was charged with knowingly dealing in the proceeds of crime and supplying prohibited drugs.
He was released on conditional bail and told to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on May 6.
The 34-year-old was charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime and money laundering, was granted conditional bail and told to appear in the same court on May 9.
The third man was charged with a dozen crimes, including supplying prohibited drugs in a commercial quantity and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The 39-year-old was refused bail was scheduled to appear in Central Local Court on June 2.
“Strike Force Mactier is a strong multi-agency operation which has shown to continue to disrupt serious organised crime in NSW – including the recent seizures of more than 5kg of prohibited drugs – and we will continue to work together as a unified team,” NSW Police organised crime squad commander Robert Critchlow said.
