Police retrieve more cocaine from Areti. Gr Majuro’s hull after foreign drug mule drowns

A drug mule who drowned collecting cocaine from a container ship was retrieving a massive haul, with the 50 kgs located nearby only a fraction of what they tried to smuggle in. See how it all went wrong.

A drug mule who drowned at the Port of Newcastle was in the process of getting a massive quantity of cocaine out of the “sea chest” of the cargo ship when he died.

The Daily Telegraph understands police have spent the day recovering more bundles of cocaine from inside the hull of the Areti. Gr Majuro, with the 50 kgs located near the dead man only a fraction of what they tried to smuggle in.

It is believed the diver and some of his criminal counterparts got some of the drugs ashore before the man’s death.

The dead diver has now been identified by NSW Police and is a foreign national, with contact attempting to be made with his family.

Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force are assisting NSW Police in their investigation, with one source saying it is not believed the diver arrived in Australia on the ship from Argentina, but rather had been based in NSW for some time doing similar diving jobs for criminal syndicates.

Police divers at the scene on Tuesday. Picture: Peter Lorimer

“It (the cocaine) was hidden in the sea chest, it’s a part of the ship that sucks up water inside to be used for cooling,” one officer said.

“We think this was this man’s job and he’s done it before, it definitely wasn’t their first time.”

An empty “bail”, used to carry the cocaine blocks out of the ship, was found along the Hunter River yesterday.

The Areti. Gr Majuro docked at the Port of Newcastle about 5.30pm on Sunday, completing its voyage of more than a month from Argentina.

Less than 12 hours later members of a crime syndicate were pulling up alongside the ship, one of them decked out in scuba diving gear, as they attempted to recover the cocaine attached to the vessel below the surface.

During the smuggling effort the diver suffered complications and died, with his counterparts leaving both him and a waterproof sack of cocaine behind.

NSW Police Organised Crime Squad boss Rob Critchlow said they believed the drowned diver was part of a syndicate who knew what they were doing, and when things went wrong he was “left for dead” by his criminal counterparts.

“This was a well drilled professional group, comfortable doing what they were doing,” Detective Superintendent Critchlow said.

“(They were) comfortable sending drugs on a ship across the world to get in and target our community here in Australia, so they knew exactly what they were doing.”

It is believed the diver who died is a foreign national, but it is unclear if he arrived in Australia onboard the ship or was already in the country.

The man, who was found floating in the water near Heron Rd in Newcastle, was wearing a Sharkskin scuba wetsuit and a high-end rebreather.

“It was a high-end rebreather, which is a specialised piece of diving equipment used by people with high levels of training,” Det Supt Critchlow said.

The bulk carrier Areti. Gr Majuro.

The Areti. Gr Majuro docked at the Port of Newcastle on Sunday. Picture: Peter Lorimer

“NSW Police and our partners have been aware of Newcastle Port being a drug shipping port for sometime.

“There have been some indications in the post of OMCG (outlaw motorcycle gang) involvement around the docks, and again we’ve worked very closely with our partners to remove them from the system.

“But again it remains a point of risk because any port has a lot of movements – so a lot of ships, a lot of trucks, a lot of people, so it is easier to hide drugs among that.”

Police divers, AFP, detectives and local police were on the scene early today. Picture: Peter Lorimer

Police have been joined by the Australian Border Force and Australian Federal Police officers in their investigation.

Investigators believe two small vessels – a dark grey inflatable and a five-metre Quintrex aluminium boat – which were seen in the area near the ship late on Sunday night, are linked to the attempted drug importation.

It is understood a foreign item was found attached to the side of the ship, showing the boats were likely docked to it for an extended period.

A drug mule has drowned while trying to smuggle more than 50 kilograms of cocaine to shore near the Port of Newcastle. Picture: NSW Police

Police divers investigate. Picture: Peter Lorimer

Officers from all three agencies were back at Berth Two at the port on Tuesday morning to continue gathering evidence.

The incredible incident came to light yesterday morning after the man found unconscious by other workers at the port. They, along with NSW Ambulance paramedics tried to perform CPR, but the man died at the scene.

A large waterproof sack of cocaine blocks was located at the scene, while some of them were scattered in the area near where the man’s body was found.

The cocaine has an estimated potential street value of $20 million.

Bricks of cocaine were found at the scene, concealed in a large waterproof sack and scattered nearby. Picture: NSW Police

Despite record seizures in recent years more than 5.7 tonnes of cocaine reaches Australia’s shores annually, the majority of it hidden in air and sea cargo.

The road between Newcastle and Sydney has long been a hot route for drug smugglers.

But a retired investigator said concealing cocaine in the hull of a ship, or offloading it to the ocean floor so it can be collected later, is typically a more “old school” method of importation.

The Port of Newcastle. The road between Newcastle and Sydney is a hot route for smugglers. Picture: AAP Image/Darren Pateman

“I wouldn’t say (this type of import) it happens a lot, and there’s been previous jobs where intelligence was telling us they were strapping coke to the hull of ships and they’d come and take it once in port,” the source said.

“But the popular method they’ve gone to is using a mothership, where they offload it to a small boat, and come into shore.

“This method has been used in the past, but mostly though on a ship we see it (the cocaine) in containers, or hidden inside machinery.”

A similar instance of attempted smuggling was thwarted by authorities in 2021 as part of the AN0M phone app bust.

Cocaine was set to be hidden in the hull of a ship and retrieved by divers, but before it arrived in Australia it was intercepted by police in Belgium.