SYDNEY, May 11
Australian police have arrested charged five after seizing over a ton of cocaine from a boat off the country’s east coast, according to a joint media release by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the New South Wales (NSW) Police.
NSW Police and AFP officers intercepted the vessel on Friday morning, approximately nine nautical miles off the coast of Nambucca Heads in northern NSW.
The boat was found to contain1,110 blocks of cocaine, weighing 1,039 kilograms, with an estimated street value of 623.4 million Australian dollars (approximately 399.7 million U.S. dollars).
Two men, aged 24 and 26, were apprehended on board and escorted to shore, while three others, aged 28, , and 35, were arrested on land.
The individuals on the vessel were charged supplying prohibited drugs in a large commercial quantity and participating in a criminal group. The other men were charged with involvement in the supply of prohibited drugs in a large commercial quantity and participating in a criminal group.
W Police reported that the investigation began following intelligence regarding the “suspicious” purchase of a 13-meter boat with a significant cash payment in southern Sydney on April 28.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dametto stated that Australia’s extensive coastline is “attractive” to organized crime groups but warned that criminals employing such smuggling methods “risk both their freedom and their lives.”
Investigations into the source of the drugs are ongoing.
