Five Australian men caught with an alleged $15 million worth of methamphetamine onboard a light plane from Papua New Guinea to Australia were “trying to set up a supply chain” between the two nations, police say.
The New South Wales men were charged this morning after the aircraft, caught flying under the cover of darkness, was intercepted in Queensland, allegedly with more than 52kg of the drug on board.
The Australian Federal Police will allege that on Monday, the pilot, a 51-year-old Fairy Meadow man, and co-pilot, a 52-year-old Tahmoor man, flew a twin-engine Beechcraft light aircraft from Wilton, south-west of Sydney, to the town of Bulolo in PNG, which is more than 250km north-west of Port Moresby.
The pilots allegedly collected 52kg of methamphetamine in PNG and then returned to an airstrip at Monto in Queensland.
“To import 50kg of meth into Australia, $15 million worth of value generated from that, they are obviously linked to higher organised crime syndicates,” AFP Commander Kate Ferry said.
“That is part of an ongoing investigation that we’re not just doing here but offshore as well.”
Police say three of the men acted as ground crew, with one – the alleged mastermind – taking orders from a bigger syndicate.
The trio stand accused of buying a 1000-litre tank, filling it with aviation fuel and driving to central Queensland last month, where they scouted regional airstrips, communicating on 17 burner phones.
After several false starts, police allege the two pilots flew from south-western Sydney to Monto on Monday, re-fuelling and waiting until midnight before the “black flight” took off for PNG, flying at an unauthorised low altitude with the transponder turned off to avoid detection.
Police arrested the two men on the plane, as well as three men accused of serving as support crew in Monto, when the aircraft landed at the Queensland airstrip.
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Following the arrests, the AFP and NSW Police officers executed search warrants at four homes and businesses in Wilton and Tahmoor, the Wollongong suburb of Fairy Meadow, and the Newcastle suburb of Wallsend.
During the warrants, police allegedly seized electronic devices, firearm parts, drug paraphernalia and documentation referencing aircraft parts and travel to PNG.
The five men are accused of being part of a transnational organised crime group.
All five men were charged with importing a commercial quantity of methamphetamine and could face life imprisonment if convicted.
The alleged ground support crew who had been staging in Queensland included a Wilton man, 40, Newcastle man, 54, and a man of no fixed address, 40.
Four of the men appeared in court yesterday, while the fifth will appear today.
If convicted, the men face life in prison.
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