Largest cocaine bust in Australian history made off Qld coast
A bikie boss is one of 13 people arrested over what police say is the largest cocaine haul in Australia’s history after their second dodgy boat broke down. See inside the vessel.
Police & Courts
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The Comancheros’ Brisbane chapter vice-president is one of a group of 11 men and two juveniles arrested over an alleged conspiracy to import 2.34 tonnes of cocaine into Queensland from South America by sea.
The Australian Federal Police operation is understood to have unfolded about 10 nautical miles off K’gari, with the cocaine estimated to have a street value of up to $1 billion.
The AFP said it began investigations into a transnational organised crime syndicate’s plan to import 2.34 tonnes of cocaine into Queensland last month when Operation Tyrrendor was established.
“In the past week the AFP, QPS and Australian Border Force tracked a recreational fishing boat, recently purchased by a 35-year-old man, as it travelled to sea, where it allegedly met a mothership to collect the cocaine, before returning towards the Queensland coastline,” the AFP said in a statement.
The AFP alleged the fishing boat, which is called True Grit and is believed to have been a former water police vessel, then became stranded about 18km off the northeastern tip of K’Gari in what was believed to be a mechanical failure.
The AFP and QPS subsequently made multiple arrests at sea.
AFP tactical officers boarded the boat and arrested a 35-year-old man and a 57-year-old man.
Two men, aged 43 and 44, who were allegedly planning to collect the drugs on shore, were arrested by specialist QPS officers near the Strathdees Boat Ramp near the Port of Bundaberg, around 7pm Saturday.
A search of the fishing boat allegedly uncovered 51 bales tied with rope netting. Each bale allegedly contained 40kg of a white substance packaged into 1kg blocks.
The broken down boat was towed to shore by QPS water police.
Soon after, three men, aged 20, 22 and 34, were arrested at a fast food restaurant in Bundaberg East.
Three more men, aged 20, 28 and 34 and two youths were arrested in Bundaberg East during a traffic stop.
Another man, 51-year-old Victoria Point man Mark Gary Sloan, was arrested at his home by QPS and AFP officers.
He appeared via videolink in Cleveland Magistrates Court on Monday, where he was refused bail.
The court heard Mr Sloan held a number of meetings at his bayside home involving a number of young men. Police intercepted a number of phone calls involving Mr Sloan with conversations about meeting at “the old fellow’s house” and concerns about hiring a car that could be easily identified.
The 11 men and two teens are alleged to be members of a criminal syndicate and were each charged with conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs.
The alleged haul is believed to be worth $760 million and potentially equates to 11.7 million street deals.
AFP Commander Stephen Jay on Monday said the cocaine had been sent from South America.
“We expected it to be a multi-tonne seizure ... it’s the largest one we are aware of,” he said.
Commander Jay said the mother ship, which was a large boat and was international waters, was still subject to investigation and international counterparts were working with the AFP.
“We will allege that two of the people arrested in Bundaberg were Comancheros,” he said.
“One of them we will allege is the vice president of the Brisbane chapter of the Comancheros.
“The two gentlemen on the boat were working on behalf of this syndicate, including obviously the Comancheros.”
Commander Jay said investigators did not expect the vessel to break down.
“What we do know is the syndicate had previously attempted to use another vessel and it had broken down as well,” he said.
“They had spent, late last week, $150,000 to purchase a new vessel so it demonstrates the access to cash.
“With this particular matter we will allege this syndicate had made two attempts with two different boats, both of which have broken down, which goes to the point around just how dangerous it is to do what we will allege what this syndicate attempted to do.”
Commander Jay said it was understood the men were stranded for a few hours in the broken down boat before their arrest.
The recreational vessel was alleged to be heading back to Bundaberg when it broke down off the coast of K’gari.
Commander Jay said the NSW Crime Commission was one of the partners involved in the operation.
”I think suffice to say a quantity of drugs this large would have been distributed across the entire country,” he said.
“And obviously a syndicate such as the Comancheros outlaw motorcycle gang provide a means through which that would occur.
“So we allege that would be part of it, that they were part of the plan to distribute it across the country.”
Commander Jay said the people involved in the syndicate were known to police.
“These syndicates are very nebulous - they move a fair bit - so the actual investigation as it stands went for a month but suffice to say they were known to us and Queensland police,” he said.
“It was good work and there was perhaps a degree of good luck that it all played out, (with) the timing that it did. You’re right, quite often these could take years, this has been a very quick operation with exceptional results.
“We will allege significant disruption on a well-entrenched transnational crime syndicate operating in this state and this country.”
Commander Jay said he was unable to comment about whether the men had previously been involved in any other shipments.
“Obviously you don’t stumble into an enterprise like this; you need to be vouched for; you need to be part of the network,” he said.
Commander Jay said the juveniles would also be charged with conspiracy to import border controlled drugs.
The recreational vessel seized by Queensland police is called True Grit.
An advertisement for the sale of the boat said “both engines have undergone extensive rebuilds recently”.
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