Alleged Australian kingpin of Colombian drug cartel once a Gold Coast lifeguard

A man who police allege was in charge of a plot to make 700kg of cocaine in a lab hidden in a tiny Qld town was once a Gold Coast lifeguard who trained alongside Olympic champions and said he’d never date a woman who ‘took drugs’.

The alleged Australian kingpin of a Colombian drug cartel which set up a “cocaine factory” near Kingaroy has been revealed as a former Gold Coast lifeguard and top swimmer who competed against the likes of Grant Hackett and nearly made the Olympics.

Rhys Ferszt, now a musclebound bodybuilder, was dramatically arrested by federal agents outside a gym in Darwin, where he now lives, on Thursday night.

Australian Federal Police allege the 33-year-old was in charge of the plot to manufacture 700kg of cocaine with a street value of up to $175 million in a purpose-built drug lab in the tiny South Burnett town of Durong, with the help of a Colombian “chemist” flown into the country.

Rhys Alwyn Ferzst, 33, was arrested by the AFP on Thursday night. Picture: Supplied

Ferszt was one of nine people charged over the massive drug bust, along with six Queenslanders including a Gold Coast builder, his girlfriend and housemate.

The Sunday Mail can reveal that Ferszt grew up on the southern Gold Coast where he became a champion lifesaver and distance swimmer who trained under “super coach” Denis Cotterell, whose star-studded stable included Olympic champions Grant Hackett and Giaan Rooney.

Ferszt competed alongside Hackett and also swam against Ky Hurst in the 2011 Australian 10km open water championships which were part of the London Olympic trials, finishing 10th.

Ferszt also served as a professional lifeguard with the Gold Coast City Council lifeguard service.

In an interview for a ‘Backyard Bachelor’ series in the Gold Coast Bulletin in 2007, Ferszt said he’d never see a woman again after a first date “if she smoked or took drugs”.

In 2008, he told the paper how his goal was to make the London Olympics after experiencing the thrill of swimming against Hackett and Hurst in the Australian open water swimming championships.

The arrest in Darwin of a man police allege is the Australian leader of a Colombian drug cartel. Picture: Supplied

“It wasn’t until I was in the water that it hit me,’’ he said at the time.

“At one stage I had Ky on my left side and Grant on my right side and we were out in front leading the race and that’s when it hit me and I was like `wow’.’’

Cotterell told The Sunday Mail it was a “massive shock” to see Ferszt had been arrested over the cocaine bust.

“It’s definitely not the bloke I remember,” he said.

“He was just a very normal bloke, a happy-go-lucky Australian kid who worked well in the pool. He became one of the top half dozen open water swimmers in the country.

“People go in different directions – I guess you’re a product of your environment and your friends.”

Ferszt and another co-accused are expected to face Darwin Magistrates Court on Monday.

His mother, Maree, declined to comment when contacted by the Sunday Mail.