Two arrested after raids in Sydney related to huge cocaine haul
A plot to import 300kg of South American cocaine into Australia has been thwarted, with two men arrested after raids in Sydney.
NSW
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A PLOT to import 300kg of South American cocaine — with an estimated street value $105 million — into Australia has been thwarted.
Two men, 57 and 63, were arrested after raids in Sydney in relation to an alleged plot to bring the cocaine into Australia by sea from Peru via Singapore and Papua New Guinea.
They are facing allegations of conspiring to import a commercial quantity of drugs after the raids at the inner-Sydney suburbs Rozelle and Maroubra yesterday.
The offences carry a maximum life imprisonment, with the men to be extradited to Queensland from NSW tomorrow.
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“We will allege in court they were key organisers of a criminal syndicate intending to import drugs into Australia,” the AFP’s state manager Queensland Commander Sharon Cowden told reporters at a press conference today.
Queensland police also raided properties in Woodridge and Airlie Beach yesterday related to the cocaine sting.
A woman, 34, from Woodridge, has been charged with dealing in the proceeds of crime and appeared in Brisbane’s magistrate court yesterday.
She was bailed and will appear in court six weeks.
Two other men were also arrested in relation to the alleged haul.
A long investigation
The AFP says it got wind of Australian and PNG-based syndicates attempting to plan a drug importation in a container on a cargo ship from Peru in late 2017.
But when the container arrived in PNG, it did not contain the drugs.
“The cocaine wasn’t where it should have been, to the syndicate’s dismay,” Comander Cowden said.
“It appeared … that it was actually some sort of rip-off internally.”
The Australian syndicate liaised with Peruvians to arrange a second importation, the AFP alleges, which led to yesterday’s raids and today’s charges.
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The Peruvian syndicate involved in the alleged import plot was also dismantled by the country’s authorities, with more than a tonne of cocaine seized.
A Peruvian businessman who consulted with the Australian-based syndicate was arrested.
Search warrants are set to continue in Papua New Guinea.
An Australian Border Force spokesman said it was uncommon for illicit drug importers to target the Torres Strait as a passage to reaching the mainland.