Romance ends in arrest for catfishing victim

The 62-year-old Melbourne man met a Cambodian woman online and was soon introduced to her "aunt" via email.

The aunt allegedly explained that she wanted to sell stationery supplies in Australia and asked him to store a number of shipments including 100 boxes of adhesive tape.

The man agreed and on May 7 police raided his West Melbourne storage facility.

Packages labelled 'sticky tape' allegedly concealed a total of 10 kilograms of pseudoephedrine, a precursor for the manufacture of methamphetamine, worth more than $400,000 in estimated potential street value.

The packages, shipped through Perth, were flagged by the Australian Border Force on entry.

Police allege the man was a "catcher" for the packages and he had no knowledge of the importation scheme.

ABF acting superintendent Ben Michalke said "this catfish-style operation is just one of the sophisticated methods criminals use to try to illegally import dangerous precursor drugs into the country".

"There are serious consequences for those convicted of importing border-controlled precursors and other illicit substances including prison time," he said.

"And there's also potential criminal elements - whether onshore or offshore - who may blame the catcher when it's detected by ABF or our law enforcement partners, leading to threats of or actual violence, intimidation and extortion.

"This amount of pseudoephedrine could make about 7 kilograms of methamphetamine - and with an estimated potential street value of $6.5 million - criminal groups are unlikely to just walk away.

"In addition to tragic personal implications of a deception like this, the illicit drugs being imported or manufactured have a devastating impact on individuals and communities."

The man has been released pending further inquiries, police said.