Traffickers Using Amazon to Ship Meth to Australia

Methamphetamine seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility in San Diego County, Calif., on May 18, 2021. Courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Methamphetamine has been discovered stashed away in decorative stones awaiting shipment to Australia from Amazon’s San Diego hub.

The decorative stones, normally used for gardens and model railways, was concealed in packaging labelled “ornamental stones,” according to U.S. federal agents.

Amazon and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) found at least five Amazon vendor accounts using the tech company’s international shipping services to traffic meth around the globe, with drug traffickers moving “kilogram quantities of controlled substances,” Forbes reported.

Another parcel containing five kilograms of meth destined for Australia was also discovered by Kentucky Customs and Border Protection on Oct. 28 ordered under a suspicious vendor account.

While on Oct. 31, Amazon and HSI agents in Michigan found a package with a label claiming to contain preowned slate stone for toy railways and garden pots. It concealed about six kilograms of meth.

Australia has the highest reported meth use per capita in the world, according to the latest data on illicit drug consumption released by the the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission in June 2022.