Australian state's crime syndicate crackdown leads to major drug haul

SYDNEY, May 3 (Xinhua) -- A widespread crackdown on major crime syndicates in Australia's Victoria state has netted drugs worth about 10 million Australian dollars (7.5 million U.S. dollars) as well as guns, stolen property and cash, police said on Thursday.

More than 30 search warrants were issued in the three-month operation covering the north of state capital Melbourne, with at least six men and a woman arrested and charged with drug and firearm offences, state police said in a media statement.

More than 2,000 liters of the butanediol substance, which can be broken down into illegal drug doses, were seized in the crackdown. Twelve firearms as well as "a large quantity of cannabis and a number of items related to burglaries in the area" were also found.

"The amount of Butanediol seized is substantial; if you break the volume down into individual doses, you have in excess of one million doses," police regional crime inspector Jamie Templeton said. Enditem