A record cocaine haul and a ship have been seized by Australian and overseas police last week in Australia’s largest shipment.
The seizure was part of Operation Minjiang (run by a Queensland Joint Organised Crime Taskforce or QJOCTF) and is the country’s largest shipment, police says.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) estimate the 2.7 tonne haul was worth $816 million and the equivalent of three million street deals.
The haul was seized when AFP officers raided a semi-rural property in Londonderry, near western Sydney, on Friday, June 19.
They say a Plumpton man, 21, and Liverpool man, 25, tried to run away but were arrested.
A search of three shipping containers near the rear of the property uncovered the cocaine hidden in plastic tubs and buried in underground bunkers covered by false container floors.
The two men were each charged with possessing commercial quantities of illegal drugs and face a maximum if life imprisonment if convicted.
They appeared before NSW Local Court on Saturday (June 20) and were remanded in custody to appear in Penrith Local Court on August 13.
COCAINE SHIPMENT TRACKED
The find and arrests followed the earlier seizure of 178kg of cocaine and 142kg of methamphetamine that was part of the shipment seized by Operation Minjiang.
Police allege that the cocaine was brought into Australia near Midge Point, in North Queensland; Operation Minjiang began in May after 40kg of cocaine was found in the water off a boat ramp at Midge Point by Queensland Police officers who found a burnt-out flatbed truck with crane on the dock next to the drugs.
A Mackay man, 41, was identified as the owner of the truck as police raided properties across north and southeast Queensland and in Sydney; the man was remanded in custody and faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.
The AFP says they were able to identify a suspected safehouse at Petrie, Brisbane, used to temporarily store the drugs shipment.
Six people had already been arrested and charged before the Sydney raids and a ship seized in the Solomon Islands, the AFP says.
Facing court are:
A Petrie man, 32, initially charged with possession and proceeds of crime offences was also charged on Friday with trying to buy a commercial quantity of illegal drugs. He is due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on July 31.
A Petrie woman, 32, was charged with one count of trying to buy drugs as well; she is expected to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on July 31.
A 24-year-old NSW man was charged on June 17 and extradited to Queensland on Friday (June 19); AFP allege the Green Valley resident travelled to Midge Point in May to help collect and move the drugs; he is due to face Brisbane court on September 18.
A Middle Park man, 32, was charged on June 12 on one count of possessing illegal drugs and police will allege that he transported some of the drugs to Sydney. He is being in custody and is due to face Brisbane Magistrate’s Court on July 3.
On Saturday, June 13, a police raid on a home at Eagleby led them to a Mount Cotton property where they found 178kg of cocaine and 142kg of meth in a parked van; they believe they drugs came from the Midge Point shipment but say the property owners were not aware of the van’s contents and are not considered suspects. An Eagleby man, 28, was charged with one count of possession and was due to appear in Brisbane court on Friday, June 19.
On Tuesday, June 16, a Hillcrest home was raised and a 28-year-old man charged on two counts. He appeared in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on June 17 and was remanded to re-appear in the same court on Friday.
A mother vessel suspected of ferrying the drugs into Midge Point, the MV Wealth, remains detained by police in the Solomon Islands.
WHO ARE IN THE TASKFORCE? The QJOCTF comprises of officers from federal and Queensland police QPS, Australian Border Force (ABF), Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre and Australian Tax Office. They were helped by the NSW Police Highway Patrol.
AFP Commander Stephen Jay praised the unwavering commitment of AFP investigators, and QJOCTF partner agencies in seizing the shipment.
“This alleged plot to distribute nearly three tonnes of cocaine — by arranging for an international vessel to offload the drugs in Northern Queensland before moving them into Sydney — demonstrates how highly organised and determined these criminal networks are, and the extreme lengths they are willing to go to in pursuit of profit.”
He says investigations remain ongoing and involve overseas police as well.
Queensland Police’s Crime Command Detective Acting Chief Superintendent Troy Pukallus says the operation demonstrates their ability to detect and disrupt organised crime from regional investigations through to national operations.
“What began with the actions of Mackay Police and Mackay Criminal Investigation Branch following the discovery of drugs at Midge Point evolved into a sophisticated, multi-agency investigation targeting an organised criminal network.
“Investigations of this scale require experience, persistence and collaboration.”
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