Biggest Australian cocaine busts this year and how the illicit drug is being smuggled
Australia has become a major target for international cartels trying to flood the country with cocaine, but law enforcement is hitting back hard. See their biggest busts this year so far.
Cocaine is flooding the Australian market as addiction to the white powder hits record highs.
Usage has surged not just in major cities like Sydney and Melbourne, but also in regional areas, according to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s latest wastewater report.
As demand soars, border patrols are cracking down — and cracking the cartels’ smuggling codes.
From underwater drug drops and cruise ship deliveries to stashes inside shampoo bottles and suitcases, we take a look at the 11 biggest cocaine busts so far this year.
ONE TONNE OF COKE ON A VESSEL
Border authorities seized more than a tonne of cocaine – worth $623.4 million – allegedly on board a vessel off the coast of NSW on May 9.
Organised Crime Squad detectives have charged five people following the haul.
Police sprung onto the case just ten days before on April 28 when NSW Police Force obtained intelligence about a suspicious purchase of a 13m motor cruiser, involving a large sum of cash, in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire.
In an operation involving investigators from Strike Force Blaine, the NSW Crime Commission and Australian Federal Police (AFP), authorities monitored the boat as it travelled north via Nelson Bay and Port Macquarie.
On Friday May 9, as the vessel travelled back to shore – towards South West Rocks – it was intercepted by the Marine Area Command.
Two men, aged 24 and 26, were arrested on board.
Police alleged approximately 1,110 blocks of cocaine, weighing 1.039 tonnes, were located on the vessel.
The seized cocaine equates to more than a million individual hits, with an estimated potential street value of $623.4 million.
Three people – aged 28, 29 and 35 – were arrested on shore after investigators stopped two vehicles attempting to flee the area.
253KG OF COKE HAULED FROM QLD SHIPPING CONTAINER
Australian Border Force (ABF) and AFP seized a mammoth $82 million worth of cocaine from a single shipping container in Brisbane.
Police found more than 250kg of cocaine when they X-rayed a “suspicious” container after it was imported through the sea cargo stream on May 27.
Investigators uncovered five carry bags wrapped in black plastic which were placed on top of pallets of polyethylene, a legal product used for packaging.
TWO MELBOURNE BROTHERS BUSTED WITH 80KG OF COKE
Two brothers with alleged links to international organised crime were charged over a complex drug importation plot after police hauled 80kg of cocaine on April 2.
The cocaine had an estimated street value of about $32 million with the potential to equate to 40,000 individual street deals.
In early March, AFP identified that a “rip crew” – a group hired by criminal syndicates to retrieve illegally imported drugs from high-security areas and which was allegedly linked to the brothers – was looking to target a shipping container being held at the Port of Melbourne.
AFP worked with the Australian Border Force (ABF) to identify and inspect the crew’s target container where officers allegedly found more than 80kg of cocaine and two GPS trackers hidden inside the shipment of industrial machinery.
Investigators removed the cocaine and substituted it with an inert substance before returning the container to the shipping yard on March 9, continuing to monitor surveil the area.
On 10, two men, dressed in black clothes and balaclavas, allegedly broke into the precinct with bolt cutters and retrieved the inert substance before fleeing in a car.
Police executed search warrants in Seabrook, Sunshine, Dallas and West Melbourne on April 2 and seized multiple mobile phones, blocks of the substituted illicit consignment, a high-powered rifle, two pistols, ammunition, various quantities of drugs, drug paraphernalia, cash and jewellery.
A 38-year-old man from Seabrook was charged and faces life imprisonment, while a 32-year-old man from Sunshine faces two years’ prison.
62KG OF COKE HIDDEN INSIDE MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
ABF officers at the Sydney container examination facility searched a consignment addressed to a business in Adelaide where they uncovered a mega 62kg haul of cocaine in February.
Investigators found 62 individually wrapped packages of powder, each weighing about 1kg, hidden in the cavity of a mechanical wheel-balancing machine.
AFP charged a South Australian man for his alleged involvement in a plot to import 62kg of cocaine into Australia concealed in mechanical equipment.
The man, 29, was expected to appear before the Adelaide Magistrates Court on 1 October, 2025.
He was charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, and one count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, with each of the offences carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
AFP Detective Superintendent Melinda Adam said the seized cocaine had an estimated street value of $20.1 million and would have equated to at least 310,000 individual street deals.
25KG OF COCAINE HIDDEN INSIDE LUGGAGE
A Swiss national was caught allegedly importing 25kg – $8m million worth – into Australia inside his luggage on January 3.
Officers detected the drugs after selecting the 21-year-old for a baggage examination when he arrived at Melbourne Airport on a flight from Los Angeles.
They allegedly found packages of the white stuff hidden in 20 black plastic packets in the man’s suitcase and notified the AFP.
This amount of cocaine could have been sold as almost 125,000 street deals, authorities said.
20KG OF COCAINE HAULED FROM LUGGAGE
A New Zealand national was also allegedly caught importing a massive amount of cocaine into Australia after the stash was found inside his luggage on February 1.
ABF officers made the haul after selecting the man, 21, for a baggage examination when he arrived at Sydney Airport after stepping off a flight from the United States.
They allegedly found 22 vacuum sealed packages of cocaine hidden in the man’s suitcase.
This amount of cocaine could have been sold as almost 100,000 street deals with an estimated value of $6.5 million.
41KG OF COCAINE FOUND IN TWO REFRIGERATED CONTAINERS
AFP seized roughly 41kg of cocaine from two refrigerated containers imported into Port Botany, Sydney.
The first container, imported from Chile, was examined by ABF officers at the Sydney Container Examination Facility on January 23.
They found 20 bricks of cocaine, estimated to weigh 1kg each, in the container’s back wall panels.
The second container, imported from Belgium, was examined by ABF officers the next day (January 24) and was also found to contain 21 bricks of cocaine, estimated at 1kg each.
COCAINE FOUND INSIDE SHAMPOO BOTTLES
In one of the smaller busts of the year to date, but certainly not lacking in creativity, a woman from the US was caught allegedly importing about 3kg of cocaine into Australia in shampoo containers.
ABF officers allegedly detected the stash on February 10 after selecting the 49-year-old for a baggage examination when she arrived at Melbourne Airport on a flight from San Francisco.
AFP charged the woman with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER BUSTED WITH 10KG OF COKE
Brazilian man, Adriano Gustavo Leonardi Thiem, was charged with smuggling $3 million worth of cocaine on a cruise ship from Argentina.
Australian Border Force officers allegedly found 28 individually wrapped packages of cocaine hidden in the ceiling cavity of the 48-year-old’s cabin when they searched the MSC Magnifica cruise ship on March 15 after it docked at Sydney Harbour.
They also uncovered body packing material in the ceiling cavity and in the wardrobe, which is used by drug couriers to try to carry drugs across borders or other security checkpoints without detection.
AFP established the packages contained about 10kg of cocaine and charged the man.
Cruise operator MSC issued a statement after the incident, saying the company was assisting police with the investigation before naming the arrested guest after he was charged two days after the haul, on March 17.
US TOURIST BUSTED WITH 15KG AT MELBOURNE AIRPORT
A Californian man was charged with allegedly importing $4.8 million worth of cocaine inside his black suitcase at Melbourne Airport.
The 28-year-old came to police attention on April 27 after he stepped off a flight from San Francisco.
When Australian Border Force (ABF) officers searched his suitcase, they allegedly found 12 vacuum-sealed packages of cocaine, with a total weight of about 15.3kg.
AFP Commander Raegan Stewart said the seized cocaine equated to about 750,000 street level deals.
He faces life in prison for his alleged crimes.
6KG WRAPPED IN DUCT TAPE ON INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT
Two men were charged with drug importation offences following an AFP and NSW Police Force Multi Agency Strike Team (MAST) investigation.
ABF officers searched a commercial international flight and found six 1kg packages of cocaine wrapped in duct tape hidden on the aircraft on March 17.
A 23-year-old man from Narara, on the NSW Central Coast, was allegedly sighted by investigators collecting the consignment on 19 March before travelling to Gosford, where he was stopped by police.
The man allegedly told officers the suitcase contained plaster.
But investigators will allege he had opened the suitcase and handled the substitute material. He faces life imprisonment.
The man first appeared at Gosford Local Court on 20 March, 2025, where he was remanded in custody. He is next expected to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on 11 June, 2025.
A second man, 34, of Hardys Bay, NSW was stopped by a highway patrol near Kempsey on March 27 and also charged. He also faces life in prison.
Investigators will allege the 34-year-old man was the Australian-based organiser of the failed drug importation.
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Originally published as Biggest Australian cocaine busts this year and how the illicit drug is being smuggled
