18 PEOPLE ARRESTED IN INTERNATIONAL DRUG BUST

Justice Minister Amanda Vanstone says 18 people have been arrested in The
Netherlands and Australia during a joint police operation to bust an
international drug ring.

Senator Vanstone has told Parliament Dutch police have seized 3,000
kilograms of cannabis, 200,000 ecstasy tablets, guns and cash destined for
Australia.

She said the drugs were to have been smuggled into Australia in machinery
parts, and information supplied by the Australian Federal Police to their
Dutch counterparts played a critical role in the arrests.

"The operation was conducted by one of the mobile strike teams funded under
the National Illicit Drug Strategy," she said.

"Now, despite madam president our distance from source countries we're not
immune from the operation of these syndicates, to them our borders between
countries are simply irrelevant.

"To beat the crime syndicates law enforcement agencies are now pooling their
resources and intelligence to take the fight right up to the primary
organisers of the drug trade."