Australian police have arrested 13 people in connection with an attempted plot to smuggle more than two tonnes of cocaine into the country by boat. Authorities believe it is the largest single cocaine bust in the nation's history.
The Australian Federal Police identified the smuggling plot in an investigation that began earlier last month. The agency received word that a criminal group linked to the Comanchero motorcycle gang in Brisbane was planning to import a consignment of cocaine by boat. Australia is one of the world's most lucrative cocaine markets, with the highest per-capita consumption and some of the highest street prices.
Over the course of the past week, the AFP - together with Queensland police and the Australian Border Force - tracked a newly-purchased recreational fishing boat as it went out to sea and met up with a "mothership" to collect its cargo of cocaine. The larger vessel was not identified.
The fishing vessel was on its way back to shore when it suffered a breakdown about 10 nautical miles off the coast of K'gari (formerly Fraser Island). The authorities swooped in and seized the vessel, nabbing the two-man crew - along with two men on shore in Bundaberg who were waiting to receive the drugs. In multiple simultaneous arrests, officers in Brisbane and the Bundaberg region swept up another nine alleged co-conspirators, including two juveniles who were caught in a traffic stop. According to the AFP, one of the detainees is the vice-president of the Comancheros' Brisbane branch.
A search of the vessel revealed 51 wrapped bales, each containing about 40 kilos of cocaine. The total estimated weight came in at about 2.34 tonnes - the largest shipment ever seized in Australia. The AFP estimated its street value at about US$500 million, or about US$210,000 per kilo - a staggering sum for a drug that sells for just US$2,000 a kilo in South America.
The detainees face a single charge of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs, and if convicted, they could spend life in prison.
"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," said AFP Commander Stephen Jay. "Anyone involved in these at-sea trafficking enterprises is not just risking their freedom – they're also risking their life. Multiple people have been rescued from the ocean in recent years after hitting trouble while allegedly trying to collect cocaine consignments."
