Two men, one from Mannum and one from Tailem Bend were arrested as members of the Drug Investigation Branch, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and Murray Mallee police raided properties at Tailem Bend, Murray Bridge and Mannum.

The 27-year-old Mannum man was charged with three counts of importation of a border controlled drug, two counts of trafficking and one count of possessing prescribed equipment.

The 33-year-old Tailem Bend man was charged with one count of importation of a border controlled drug, five counts of trafficking and two counts of possessing prescribed equipment.

During the raids police allegedly seized 1250 grams of MDPV, 440g of synthetic drugs including Ecstasy, 320g of DMMC, known as Meow Meow, and 300g of Ephedrine.

Two encapsulating machines and 10,000 empty capsules were also seized.

The operation was part of an ongoing investigation into the emergence of MDPV following a series of raids and arrests by Murray Bridge Police on January 18 which were carried out in response to the emergence of the drug in the community and the overdose of a Murray Bridge man in December.

South Australia Police Detective Super-intendent Des Bray said the arrests and significant seizures would disrupt a syndicate involv-ed in the importation and trafficking of MDPV and other synthetic drugs.

“South Australia Police strongly warn against the use of any illicit drug and urge members of the public who may have information in relation to illicit drug activity to contact BankSA Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000,” he said.