A group of 13 men, including two minors, have been charged as part of the largest-ever cocaine bust in Australian history.
Police seized a whopping 2.34 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of $760 million from a vessel off the coast of Queensland on Saturday.
The Australian Federal Police, Queensland Police and Australian Border Force arrested the men on the vessel and several others on-shore during the joint drug investigation.
The operation, named Operation Tyrrendor, began in November following a tip-off that the Comanchero bikie gang was allegedly planning to import drugs into the country.
Police tracked a fishing boat as it travelled out to sea to meet a mothership which allegedly had the huge vat of cocaine on board.
The boat was intercepted before it returned to the Queensland coastline.
It became stranded off the north-east tip of K’gari over a suspected mechanical issue.
A search of the boat uncovered 51 bales containing 40kg of a white substance in individual 1kg blocks, police said.
The estimated gross weight for the suspected cocaine, which is awaiting tests, is 2.34 tonnes.
This makes it the largest amount of cocaine seized by the AFP.
Police made multiple arrests at sea and again on-shore in Bundaberg and Brisbane.
The 11 men, aged between 20 and 57, and two juveniles are alleged to be members of the criminal syndicate.
Police will allege one of the men arrested on Saturday was the vice-president of the Comanchero’s Brisbane chapter.
All were charged with one count of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs, which carries a maximum penalty of life behind bars.
The men are expected to appear in courts in Brisbane today.
“We know that criminals go to extreme lengths, and often risk their own lives, to smuggle drugs into Australia with no regard to the harm they cause to Australian communities,” AFP Commander Stephen Jay said.
“This alleged attempt to collect more than two tonnes of cocaine from the ocean shows that criminals will do anything for their own greed and profit.”
Jay added: “Let these arrests serve as a warning to those criminal syndicates plotting attempts to bring illicit substances into our country, we stand together ready to act and disrupt your criminal activities, together with our law enforcement partners.”
