$210M of meth found hidden in Sriracha hot sauce bottles shipped from US

SYDNEY — Sriracha always has plenty of heat, but one shipment of the popular chili sauce apparently came with a side of ice.

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According to Reuters, authorities in Sydney, Australia, discovered 400 kilograms of methamphetamine – also known as meth, crystal meth or ice – hidden in hot sauce bottles at a freight depot Oct. 15, New South Wales police said Thursday. The drugs, which were shipped from the United States, were worth about $210 million U.S., the news service reported.

Police so far have made four arrests in the case, Reuters reported. Authorities charged three of the suspects, including a 36-year-old man from Plumpton and two men, ages 30 and 34, from Victoria, of attempting "to possess a commercial quantity unlawful import: border-controlled drug and large commercial drug supply," police said in a news release. The fourth suspect, a 45-year-old man, is accused of "possessing identity information to commit an indictable offense," according to Reuters.

Investigators are trying to identify more suspects linked to what they believe is a network of smugglers, the news release said.

"This detection should serve as a warning to criminal groups that no matter how clever you think you are being in the way that you attempt to conceal and move your drugs, our officers have the skills, technology and the resources to find them and track down the people who are attempting to bring them in," Matt O'Connor, acting New South Wales regional commander for the Australian Border Force, said in a statement.

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