Police have arrested the alleged ringleader behind the 900kg of cocaine bricks which washed up along Australia’s east coast in an apparent botched smuggling operation.
Australian Federal Police officers have accused Daniel Wayne John Roberts of being the Australian leader of an international drug smuggling operation.
It’s believed the syndicate failed to pick up the illegal shipment, leaving it be picked up and deposited at spots along the NSW coastline by the tide.
Police swooped on Roberts who was at an address in Brisbane’s northern suburbs on Wednesday afternoon.
Police believe they have arrested the Australian ringleader behind a botched drug importation that left ‘bricks’ of cocaine washing up on the eastern coastline
AFP Detective Superintendent Adrian Telfer speaks to media during a press conference about the arrest at AFP Brisbane Headquarters in Brisbane
He was scheduled to appear at in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.
The first of the tightly wrapped and taped packages of cocaine was found on the NSW central coast’s Magenta Beach in December when police opened the barnacle-encrusted outer plastic to find 39 ‘bricks’ consisting of 39kg of cocaine inside.
Over the festive season seven separate packages containing around 7kg of cocaine were discovered on Magenta Beach, Pelican Beach, Blacksmith Beach, Avoca Beach, Pentaloon Bay and North Steyne Beach.
A fisherman reeled in a blue barrel containing 39 individually wrapped 1kg bricks of cocaine on Boxing Day and handed it to police.
Large packages containing the tightly wrapped bricks appeared along the Sydney coast and as far north as Newcastle late last year
Later on that same day a member of the public found a further 39 individually sealed 1kg cocaine bricks washed up on rocks near Newcastle Ocean Baths and also handed that over to police.
The cocaine bricks have displayed labels such as Tesla, Zoe and R-Z.
Even earlier this month, five more bricks were discovered by lifeguards on Sydney’s northern beaches, with two found at Freshwater Beach and another three at Curl Curl Beach.
The packages, estimated to be worth about $1million, were sent for testing.
Previously there was speculation the illicit cargo may have fallen into the water during a storm, but NSW Police refused to confirm any theories.
In January, police hired a marine expert to help detectives determine how long the tightly-wrapped packages had been floating in the ocean.
