How tiny trace of cocaine led to $105m bust

A man has been jailed over a plot to smuggle 300kg of cocaine into Melbourne inside cocoa packets after an airport sniffer dog caught just a tiny whiff.

A 38-year-old man has been jailed over his role in a failed plot to import 300kg of cocaine into Melbourne after a sniffer dog detected a tiny trace of the drug.

A Mexican man has been jailed for more than 14 years for his role in a plot to import 300kg of cocaine in a shipment of cocoa powder into Melbourne.

Police say the drugs could have been broken down into 300,000 individual street deals, with an estimated value of $105m.

The 38-year-old is the second man to be jailed over the plot, which was uncovered during a 2017 investigation.

The man arrived in Melbourne on a flight from Los Angeles on a tourist visa and was stopped by Australian Border Force officers after a detector dog raised the alarm.

A small quantity of cocaine was found on him.

The man was grilled by officers and his phones were analysed for intelligence.

Police then raided a business in Altona and found the huge haul of cocaine hidden in packages labelled as coffee and cocoa powder.

Police then searched properties in Port Melbourne and Balaclava, which resulted in the 38-year-old and another Mexican national being charged over the importation.

The probe was carried out by the Victorian Joint Organised Crime Taskforce which is made up of officers from the Australian Federal Police, ABF, Victoria Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

The 38-year-old was last month sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison with a non-parole period of nine years and six months at the County Court of Victoria.

The man was part of a failed plot to import cocaine into Melbourne inside a shipment of cocoa powder.

About 300kg of cocaine was found inside the cocoa packets, with an estimated street value of $105m.

The other man is serving an 18-year jail sentence, with a non-parole period of 12 years.

AFP Detective Acting Inspector Mark McKiernan said: “We will continue to work with our partners to seize drugs before they impact Australia’s towns, cities and hospitals”.

“We want to send a strong message to drug syndicates that we will continue to attack their supply chains on all fronts, reduce their ability to profit from their crimes, and work to prevent their heinous products from causing harm to our community.”

ABF Commander Craig Palmer said the investigation highlighted the work of the ABF detector dogs.

“The range of techniques deployed at the border in this case include intelligence gathering, network analysis, and the strategic use of our highly trained detector dogs,” he said.

“The insight to approach the passenger in the first instance, the effectiveness of the ABF’s detector dog capability, and the immediate intelligence work undertaken by the ABF, was key to enabling our law enforcement partners to locate the consignment of drugs.”

Victoria Police Detective Inspector Justin Cornford said the interception of 300kg of cocaine bound for Victorian streets was a significant victory in the war on organised crime.

“We’ve made no secret of the fact that Victoria Police is determined to make Victoria a hostile place for organised crime and to limit the harm caused to our community through the trafficking of drugs,” he said.

“We have zero tolerance for drug trafficking and will continue to work tirelessly to investigate and disrupt drug traffickers who are preying on the vulnerable and trading on their misery for their own financial gain.”