Daniel Wayne John Roberts accused of being behind crime syndicate in ‘botched’ 900kg cocaine import

A Brisbane man has been arrested and charged for allegedly being the crime boss behind the importation of tonnes of drugs. Watch the arrest footage.

Police have charged a Brisbane man alleged to be the Australian leader of a transnational organised crime syndicate over multiple massive drug shipments including a “botched” 900kg cocaine import that led to bricks of the drug washing ashore.

Aspley man Daniel Wayne John Roberts, 36, was arrested by specialist police after attending a gym in Brisbane’s northside on Wednesday.

AFP Superintendent Adrian Telfer said Roberts had allegedly attempted to run from officers but was arrested without incident.

The AFP alleges the man played a “significant role” in importing almost two tonnes of cocaine in three shipments in the past year which have an estimated street value of $683m.

The AFP also alleges Roberts, 36, used encrypted messaging and went by the name of notorious US gangster John Dillinger or nickname WANTED.

Bricks of cocaine washed up on NSW beaches. Picture: Australian Federal Police

The Australian Federal Police allege Roberts directed the collection and distribution of multiple multi-hundred kilogram and multi-tonne importations of cocaine and other drugs into Australia, mostly via sea routes.

He was arrested in Brisbane’s northern suburbs on Wednesday and had his case heard in court on Thursday.

He has been charged with two counts of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, one count of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, one count of trafficking a commercial quantity of controlled drugs, one count of directing activities of a criminal organisation, one count of dealing in the proceeds of crime, and one count of using a telecommunications network with the intention to commit a serious offence.

He was arrested as part of Operation Groot which was a major investigation by the Queensland Joint Organised Crime Taskforce, which includes the AFP, Queensland Police Service, Australian Border Force, the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, Austrac and the ATO.

The Aspley man was also charged with 12 offences for allegedly using violence and threats to collect debts and intimate rivals by “engaging” criminal associates to assault, firebomb, shoot at and extort customers, according to the AFP.

Daniel Wayne John Roberts being detained by a string of officers including Queensland Police and AFP.

AFP Superintendent Telfer said Roberts was being investigated for more than 12 months.

He said it will be alleged the cocaine was being imported on international ships and that the alleged “botched” 900kg cocaine import was a result of “very adverse weather conditions”.

Supt Telfer said it will be alleged Roberts intended to import drugs into Australia on 20 separate occasions, totalling more than 20 tonnes of drugs.

Roberts did not appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday when his case was mentioned for the first time.

He has not applied for bail, with the court hearing he would be subject to a return to prison warrant.

Lawyer Alex Jones, director of Jones and Associates, asked it be adjourned to the Commonwealth call-over court.

Magistrate Aaron Simpson adjourned the case until May 3.

According to court documents Queensland Police allege Roberts set fire to a building in Oxford St Bulimba on May 17 last year and another property on Riding Rd, Balmoral, on June 20 last year.

It’s alleged he left an improvised explosive device at the Riding Rd property at the time.

He’s further alleged to have set fire to the Ridging Rd property, then a florist, on August 15, according to the court documents.

The documents further reveal that police allege he fired on a home in Greendale St Morningside in July last year.

In documents relating to Commonwealth offences the AFP refers to an alleged organisation dubbed the “Roberts Organised Crime Network”.

Roberts is accused of directing the network from July 2022 until his arrest on Wednesday and the organisation’s aim allegedly included importing and trafficking drugs, the AFP said.

An image released by the Australian Federal Police on Thursday.

Police raided homes across Brisbane and Hervey Bay Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Investigators allege the Aspley man used encrypted communication to contract out drug pick-ups jobs and to try to conceal his criminal activities.

The AFP allege the man was also responsible for a failed import of 900kg off Moreton Island in November last year which led to packages of drugs washing up on beaches along the NSW coast in 2023 and 2024.

The NSW Police Force has seized about 256kg of the suspected 900kg after it washed up.

The first suspicious package of cocaine washed up at Magenta beach, between Newcastle and Sydney, on December 22.

In less than a week, 124 bricks of cocaine were plucked from the surf between Sydney and Tuggerah Lakes.

An image released by the Australian Federal Police on Thursday.

In March, a 1kg block of cocaine was found at Nambucca Heads.

Earlier this month five blocks were found at multiple beaches, including North Curl Curl beach and Freshwater beach.

The blocks were wrapped with labels like Tesla, R-Z and Zoe.

Police also allege the Aspley man facilitated the importation and collection of about 560kg of cocaine into the mid-west region of Western Australia in August last year. The shipment was seized.

Police allege the drugs were dropped overboard from a bulk cargo carrier before being collected from the ocean and brought to the shore in the town of Kalbarri.

Six men have been charged over the importation with the sixth extradited from Queensland to WA on March 21 this year.

The AFP say they also suspect the Aspley man was involved in conspiracies to import a further 20 tonnes of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin into Australia since late 2023.

They are also investigating his “suspected involvement” in trafficking drugs across Australia between 2022 and 2024.

The AFP has charged a Brisbane man, who is alleged to be the Australian leader of a transnational organised crime organisation, over a botched 900kg cocaine import that led to bricks of the drug washing up on NSW beaches. Picture: Australian Federal Police

Queensland Police Service Detective Acting Superintendent Brad Phelps said the alleged arson incidents were “targeted attacks” on a Bulimba barbershop and Balmoral florist but that the business owners were not being investigated as part of this crime syndicate.

“There were also shots fired into a house at Morningside ... five shots from a shotgun into a house occupied by two adults and five children,” he said.

“It will be alleged that (Roberts) is a person who coordinates activity at the highest level of community risk.

QPS Detective Acting Superintendent Phelps said it will be alleged Roberts had links to an outlaw motorcycle group.

Supt Telfer said further arrests were expected.

Originally published as Daniel Wayne John Roberts accused of being behind crime syndicate in ‘botched’ 900kg cocaine import