Some of Australia’s biggest cocaine busts and how crime gangs and mules were caught
These are some of the biggest drug busts involving cocaine coming from all over the world to Australia. See where they came from and how they were caught.
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These are some of the biggest drug busts involving cocaine coming from all over the world to Australia in the last two years alone.
See the list below:
APRIL
Three women, aged 22, 24 and 35, each allegedly with 10kg of cocaine in their luggage, and the suspected ringleader, a US national, 55, were charged with attempting to smuggle cocaine into Australia to Melbourne on a flight from the US on April 16. A fourth woman, 41, was arrested at LA International Airport.
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MARCH
A Portuguese man, 61, was jailed for six years for smuggling 1.2kg of pure cocaine into Australia internally. He arrived in Sydney on a flight from France via Hong Kong with 100 pellets in his body, each weighing about 16 grams. He pleaded guilty to one count of importing a border controlled drug.
FEBRUARY
Two Victorian men, 19 and 22, were charged over an alleged seizure of 139kg of cocaine hidden in a shipment of 13 luxury buses bound for Adelaide. It’s alleged the $45m haul was found by ABF officers in Perth. The men were arrested after allegedly retrieving the drugs when the buses arrived in SA.
JANUARY
A sea container originating from Guatemala was seized at the ABF’s Cargo Examination Facility in SA, allegedly carrying 90kg of methamphetamine and 10kg of cocaine. Allegedly found in tape-wrapped blocks in a consignment declared as “Leather Belts”, the drugs had an estimated street value of $85m+.
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2023
DECEMBER
A WA man, 31, was jailed for four years over the importation of 2.87kg of cocaine, worth a potential $1.2m hidden in purses sent from the UK and intercepted by the ABF in June, 2021. A second man was jailed in June 2022 for eight years over the same haul and a separate ketamine supply matter.
OCTOBER
More than 150kg of cocaine was allegedly found in the hull of a cargo ship from South America at the Port of Melbourne. Divers allegedly retrieved four packages, worth an estimated $61m, from below the waterline. In August 2023, about 200kg of cocaine, hidden the same way, was seized at the port.
SEPTEMBER
A Brazilian national, 30, was charged with allegedly importing 3kg of cocaine hidden in his suitcase lining after he was subjected to a routine bag inspection after arriving into Sydney International Airport on a flight from Brazil.
AUGUST
Three Queenslanders, 49, 32 and 29, were charged over their alleged involvement in the importation and possession of about 560kg of cocaine, worth about $224m. They were arrested on August 11 after a search warrant was executed at a Kalbarri property, about 570km northwest of Perth.
JULY
Two men, 55 and 44, were charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine as part of an investigation into 247kg of the drug seized from a yacht which sailed to Townsville from Vanuatu. Police will allege the men travelled to Townsville from Canberra to recover the drugs hidden in the hull.
JUNE
A bulk cargo carrier’s master, 43, and chief engineer, 39, both from Montenegro, were charged over their alleged roles in the importation of 849.5kg of cocaine into WA. Police will allege they planned to drop the drugs overboard off the Fremantle coast to be collected by another group.
Three men, 21, 25 and 29, who allegedly tried to retrieve more than 800kg of cocaine, worth $320m, smuggled into Australia on a bulk cargo carrier were charged. They were on-board a 10m cabin cruiser in distress near Rottnest Island. Multiple plastic-wrapped packages were retrieved from the water.
MAY
A Perth man, 32, was charged with allegedly importing cocaine through the mail from Northern Ireland and with dealing with more than $350,000 cash suspected to be proceeds of crime.
APRIL
More than 120kg of cocaine, worth around $48 million, was allegedly found hidden inside three black duffel bags wrapped in plastic and hidden among sacks of coffee beans in a shipping container arriving into Sydney from South and Central America.
Operation TIN CAN, run by the ABF, World Customs Organisation and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, saw more than 100 drug seizures, including 98,734kg of cocaine and 314kg of cannabis, and 43 arrests. ABF staff deployed to Colombia and Panama, and there were also raids in Costa Rica and Ecuador.
MARCH
A man from Adelaide was the fifth person arrested over the alleged importation of 2kg cocaine hidden in three parcels declared “divorce papers” and “comics”. The parcels were allegedly intercepted by the ABF at Melbourne and Sydney post facilities. The man was charged with importing cocaine.
A St Kilda man, 31, was charged with a string of offences over his alleged role in the importation of 24kg of cocaine worth $10m found hidden in water pumps brought over from Greece.
A Sydney man, 68, was jailed for 11 years for his role in trafficking cocaine. He was arrested in May 2021 as he waited at a Western Sydney address to collect a consignment labelled “diamond microdermabrasion”, which was 2kg of cocaine. A second man at the address pleaded guilty over the scheme.
FEBRUARY
An Austrian national, 27, was charged with importing cocaine after allegedly swallowing 124 pellets filled with 1kg of the drug. She arrived at Perth Airport on a flight from Europe on February 11 and after a bag search was taken to Royal Perth Hospital where she allegedly excreted the pellets.
More than 365kg of cocaine was allegedly found in waters off WA’s Great Southern region. It is alleged one package initially washed ashore, then officers found eight more in an overturned boat, each with about 40kg of cocaine inside. One man, 36, was later arrested, with police seeking two others.
JANUARY
A South Australian man was charged after allegedly importing 840g of cocaine through the international mail system hidden in a jigsaw puzzle.
An Irish national, 28, was charged after allegedly importing about 120 grams of cocaine inside six plastic Kinder Surprise capsules, which he had swallowed. He was stopped at Melbourne Airport after a flight from the Middle East on December 28, 2022.
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