‘Black flights’, mystery packages, drug busts: FNQ in cocaine frame

Mystery packages on a beach, alleged drug smuggling “black flights”, an ex-bikie’s huge deals revealed – you’d be forgiven for thinking FNQ was facing a cocaine crisis.

TEN kilograms of cocaine washed up on a Far North beach days before a high-profile former bikie was sentenced for supplying huge quantities of the same substance.

Just months earlier a group of Melbourne men allegedly tried to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine into Australia through Mareeba on “black flights”.

Five men have been charged but there have currently been no convictions.

While there is no connection between each incident, it would be cause to think the Far North had suddenly become a haven for the high-priced white powder, such are the quantities and elaborate ways it has found its way into the region of late.

A plane which crashed northwest of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea last year was allegedly destined for Mareeba and carrying 500kg of cocaine.

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While police say there is a “clear market” for cocaine in a town like Cairns with a well-known party scene, like every other illicit substance, its predominantly overseas manufacturers have realised what a captive audience they have in Australia and the high price locals are prepared to pay.

Far North Detective Acting Inspector Kevin Goan said Australians pay some of the highest prices in the world for many drugs, including both cocaine and ice.

Tight controls on precursor substances make it an unfriendly place to locally produce, forcing the country to be at the whim of international supply.

And with a perception the Far North might prove an easy, porous place to sneak substances in, authorities have had to up their game in the region with multiple agencies working together constantly on alert.

Former Bandido Lee Undy was charged with supplying cocaine in the Far North. Picture: Instagram

“We do business better collectively with our partner agencies,” he said. “The sharing of intelligence and combining of resources expose those intent on trying to exploit a vulnerability they see in North Queensland and sees them more readily being caught.”

It also means tracking the drugs seized during operations to their port of origin has become crucial for law enforcement in a bid to curb supply.

Acting Inspector Goan said part of their investigation into ex-Bandido Lee Undy involved who he had sourced the cocaine from in Melbourne.

According to Court documents filed in the Supreme Court, the Australian Federal Police allege the cocaine flown into Mareeba may have originated in Peru, while alleging there were links to the Calabrian mafia.

“Signature testing” is also being carried out into the source of the $3m worth of the substance that washed up on Hinchinbrook Island on Sunday, although Acting Inspector Goan revealed there were early suggestions it may have been in the water for months and travelled huge distances.

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Originally published as ‘Black flights’, mystery packages, drug busts: FNQ in cocaine frame