A four-hour police siege in suburban Melbourne has ended with the arrest of two armed men who had barricaded themselves inside an apartment to avoid arrest.
They were among four people arrested over a highly sophisticated clandestine drug lab this morning.
The siege pair was arrested inside a unit in Cumberland Ave, Maribyrnong, in the city's inner west, just before 10.30am AEDT after special operations officers spent hours negotiating their surrender.
Police seized three loaded handguns from the unit along with between $60,000 and $70,000 in cash.
The men barricaded themselves inside the unit when police went to arrest them about 6am AEDT today.
Police sealed off the street and a squad of heavily armed police was called in.
The drama began as police carried out raids at multiple addresses after the drug lab was located in St Leonards, on the Bellarine Peninsula.
Two other men were arrested during these raids.
Police seized 15kg of amphetamines from the lab, which has an estimated street value of $10-15 million.
The lab was so volatile police officers had to retreat from it, Det-Supt Doug Fryer from the Crime Squad told reporters.
He said the arrested men had links to organised crime. All four are expected to appear in court this afternoon.
Front page
RSS Feed