An alleged multi-million dollar bikie drugs syndicate has been smashed and a secret narcotics laboratory in Sydney's west closed following a series of raids.
Ten kilograms of methylamphetamine, commonly known as 'ice', with an estimated value of $5 million, was discovered during a raid on a drugs factory at an industrial unit in St Marys on Thursday, police said.
They also found four kilograms of the precursor substance pseudoephedrine and a rifle with ammunition.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
In co-ordinated raids in Sydney's south, three men were arrested at properties in and around St Mary's and Rockdale.
Officers seized a hunting rifle, loaded pistol, an assortment of ammunition, eight mobile phones, a money counter, large sum of cash and three drums of ethanol found at the same Rockdale property.
A fourth man was arrested early on Friday morning in central Sydney.
A 25-year-old man from Erskine Park, said to be associated with the Comanchero and Lone Wolves bikie gang was charged with manufacturing commercial quantities of illicit drugs.
Three other men - a 27-year-old from Banksia, a 32-year-old from Sans Souci and a 20-year-old man from Rockdale, all said to be Comanchero bikies - were also charged with the same offences.
All four are due to front Parramatta Bail Court on Friday.
"This has been a protracted investigation and the overnight arrests and significant seizures by police are a great result for the strike force," Detective Chief Inspector Mark Jones, from the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad, said in a statement.
"Drugs are a scourge on society and to shutdown such a large-scale operation, with the potential to produce huge quantities of dangerous drugs that could have ended up on the streets, is very satisfying."
