US man arrested for trying to ship ton of meth to Aust

According to court documents, US customs officers inspected seven Australia-bound shipments from February to December of 2023 sent by fake companies and labelled as carpets and textiles, furniture, wheel hub testing equipment and a casting machine. 

Instead, they contained more than 1000kg of methamphetamine.

Law enforcement traced Li to the shipments and arrested him driving near a warehouse where a robbery was reported. They discovered shipping labels, scales and packages of methamphetamine.

Li appeared in a Los Angeles court on Friday. If convicted, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.

"Being a mere three hours north of the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere has made Los Angeles a critical cog in the transnational narcotics trafficking trade," Homeland Security Investigations agent Eddy Wang said in a news release.