AUSTRALIAN authorities have made the largest ever seizure of the drug ice in the nation’s history in Nunawading in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

The record 903kg haul, valued at almost $900 million, follows a joint operation involving the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police.

The massive amount of crystal methamphetamine, equivalent to nine million individual hits, was hidden between floorboards, according to authorities.

AFP Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan said the drugs were discovered at a property in Nunawading after the arrest of two Victorian men in February.

The warehouse in Norcal Rd is about 20km east of Melbourne’s CBD, and close to the busy Nunawading train station.

“We located 70 boxes of floorboards similar to what you see in front of you here today,” he said.

“In each of those floorboards was concealed between the floorboards 2kg of methamphetamine.

“As you can see, a fairly sophisticated concealment methodology where organised crime groups are going to great lengths to try and thwart the activities of law enforcement.”

Large shipping containers were seen out the front of a Nunawading factory.

Workers seen going in and out of the warehouse kept to themselves and only opened the factory door when receiving containers, a nearby worker told the Herald Sun.

A worker, who did not want to be named, said three to four Asian men were often seen going in and out of the factory.

“They kept to themselves mostly. The door was closed except when they were receiving containers,” the worker told.

“It wasn’t a daily operation. There weren’t people there daily.”

The record ice haul came after the AFP provided intelligence to Victoria Police’s clandestine laboratory squad about a makeshift facility in Box Hill.

Following that 12 search warrants were executed in Blackburn North, Blackburn South, Box Hill North and Doncaster.

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana said the record haul of ice was discovered following an investigation into a drug syndicate, which resulted in the seizure of 40kg of methamphetamine, 175,000 cigarettes and also $140,000 in cash and other contraband.

Following that the AFP raided a warehouse in Nunawading and found methamphetamine inside 70 boxes of wooden floorboards.

A 53-year-old Blackman man and 36-year-old Doncaster man have been charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of methamphetamine.

AFP uncover biggest 'ice' haul ever recorded in Australia AFP uncover biggest 'ice' haul ever recorded in Australia

Police are still searching for two Asian men aged in their 30s.

A white Nissan coupe is also been sought.

It was seen parked outside the Nunawading warehouse.

Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the seizure was a “serious blow to organised crime across the country”.

“This is money that hasn’t gone into the pockets of organised criminals and, of course, it means this is an enormous number of hits of ice that have been taken off our streets,” he said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said at a press conference in Tasmania this morning: “This is a great credit to border protection and police in confiscating this.

“Our response to ice is ruthless. Interception of trafficking, of smuggling, of dealing, we are working domestically and internationally to catch these merchants of death.”

It comes less than a week after AFP and Australian Border Force officers arrested three Vietnamese nationals in Melbourne and seized 300kg of ice hidden in metal gates.

Rural Victorians are among the most prolific users of ice in the country, with some areas having a record one hit per 11 people every day.

The true enormity of the nation’s deadly ice plague was revealed by secretly testing the waste water of 14 million Australians.

Sydney was confirmed as the nation’s cocaine capital with users snorting up to 30 cocaine hits a day per 1000 people, compared with the up to six daily hits per 1000 people in Melbourne and the national average of just three hits per 1000 people per day.

The highest use of ecstasy in Australia is in regional Tasmania.

A $32 million court has been set up in Melbourne, aimed at getting ice offenders back on track and overseeing 170 drug offenders placed on a two-year recovery programs.

There has been a series of recent drug busts involving ice.

Three men were charged after police and border officers foiled a $300m drug smuggling plot in Melbourne in March.

While illicit drugs worth $2 billion have been seized in joint investigations by Australian and Chinese police.

Almost 7.5 tonnes of illicit substances, including crystal methamphetamine, or ice, have been confiscated since November 2015.

The Australian Federal Police and their counterparts in China focused their investigation on Guangzhou province in southeast China, the epicentre of an illicit trade ­accounting for 70 per cent of ice smuggled into Australia.

AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST HAUL OF CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAMINE

HOW WAS IT DISCOVERED?

* January. AFP tips off Victoria Police about a drug syndicate in Melbourne’s east.

* Weeks later. 12 warrants executed in and around Doncaster, Blackburn and Box Hill uncover 40kg of ice, 175,000 cigarettes, $140,000 in cash and other contraband.

* February 2 and 3. Two men, believed to be Australian-born, are arrested.

* February 6. AFP raids a property in Nunawading and find 70 boxes of floorboards. Two kilograms of crystal methamphetamine was found inside each floorboard.

WHO HAS BEEN CHARGED?

* A Blackburn man, 53, and a Doncaster man, 36, have been charged with drug trafficking and have already face. They face life in jail if convicted.

* Victoria Police have released images of two other Asian males thought to be involved in the syndicate.

HOW DID THE DRUGS GET HERE?

* Police won’t reveal exactly which Asian country the drugs came from, but do say the floorboards came through the Port of Melbourne.

HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO PREVIOUS HAULS?

* It the biggest haul of ice ever seized in Australia, according to the AFP.

* Previous large seizures include:

November 2014: 849kg seized in NSW, along with almost two tonnes of MDMA.

February 2015: 720 litres of liquid meth found in gel push-up bras, paint bottles and art sets in Sydney.

March 2017: 300kg found inside metal gates in Melbourne.