Nearly 250kg of cocaine was found and seized from a yacht in Townsville.
Charges against two men were mentioned in a Brisbane court today after the seizure of nearly 250 kilograms of cocaine from a yacht in Townsville.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) will allege that the men travelled from Canberra to Townsville back in May to recover the cocaine stashed in the hull of the yacht.
The yacht had apparently sailed to Australia from Vanuatu and raised suspicion among the Australian Border Force (ABF) when it arrived in Townsville in April.
The ABF then kept the yacht in Townsville for investigation for 90 days, during which they noticed “minor anomalies” with it’s hull.
247kg of cocaine with a street value of roughly $61 million was found inside the hull and seized.
The two men were arrested in a Canberra apartment on Thursday.
The men faced the ACT Magistrates Court last Friday on charges of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, as well as dealing in proceeds of crime.
The pair were then extradited to Brisbane the next day, however, did not appear in the Brisbane Magistrate’s Court today when the charges were mentioned, as one man remains in custody and the other has had his matter adjourned.
The maximum penalty for the crime is life imprisonment.
Detective Superintendent Adrian Telfer from the AFP said, “Every time someone buys cocaine they are lining the pockets of organised crime gangs who are responsible for violence here in Australia and around the world.
“That’s money which criminal groups would use to buy weapons, corrupt officials and governments overseas and turn the Pacific into an illicit drug super highway.
“The investigation remains ongoing and we do not rule out more arrests in the future.”
