Hooley freakin’ dooley this is a lotta booger sugar. NSW Police have executed a drug bust on a yacht in Lake Macquarie, discovering a haul of cocaine worth an estimated $245 million.
Three men were arrested in the multi-agency sting that yielded a haul of cocaine weighing in at a whopping 700kg, making it one of the largest cocaine busts ever recorded, or an average night out in Double Bay, depending on which way you look at it.
The bust was the result of work which began in August as a collaboration between NSW Police, the Organised Crime Squad, the Australian Federal Police, and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission into the importation of cocaine via private vessels. The investigation was also assisted by Australian Border Force.
It won’t be a white Christmas in NSW this year! 700kg of cocaine seized in joint operation with @AusFedPolice @AusBorderForce @ACICgovau
Find out more: https://t.co/f0gyCzLiG4 pic.twitter.com/S0iGEygx4F— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) November 16, 2017
The yacht, sailing through international waters, was identified and located in the South Pacific, and tracked as it approached the New South Wales coast line.
Authorities swooped on the vessel at 3pm yesterday, making three arrests in the process – that of a 68-year-old man on board the boat at Toronto, a 47-year-old man at a hotel in Warners Bay, and a 63-year-old man at a home in Islington.
The large commercial quantity of drugs was found concealed in the hull of the boat.
The AFP’s assistant commissioner Neil Gaughan stated that the relatively tiny boat had passed through Tahiti on its way to the eastern Australian seaboard.
It is no surprise that criminal syndicates undertake sophisticated attempts that go to great lengths – even crossing oceans in relatively small craft – to import narcotics. This is nothing more than an attempt to flood our streets with dangerous narcotics to make a profit, with police, health professionals and the community picking up the bill for all the peripheral damage they will cause.
All three men arrested were charged with importing a commercial quantity of border control drugs, and were refused bail after appearing in Newcastle Local Court earlier today. The charges carry a maximum jail sentence of life in prison.
They’ll re-appear in court on January 30th.
