SYDNEY, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- About 1.2 tons of methamphetamine drugs have been seized in Western Australia, the largest haul of its kind in the country, police told local media on Friday.

The synthetic drugs, commonly known as "ice", are worth about 1 billion Australian dollars and were intercepted in a raid on a boat and van transporting the shipment 400 km north of state capital Perth early on Thursday.

Eight men have been charged following the anti-drug operation, which lasted more than half a year and was jointly carried out by the Australian federal police, state crime task force and other government agencies. The offences carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The operation has focused on a significant organized crime group in Australia, with the drugs seized intended for distribution along the east coast, said the federal police's deputy commissioner of operations Leanne Close.

"We think it's timely ... that we've now been able to stop this activity ... drugs that are now no longer going to be on the streets of Australia over this Christmas period," she said.

Earlier this year, a record 903 kg of "ice" were seized in southeastern Victoria state's capital Melbourne.