Julian Lee charged over $64m worth of cocaine found in ship

The husband of an Insta-famous pole dancer will face court over an alleged plot to smuggle $64 million of cocaine into Australia.

The husband of an Insta-famous pole dancer will face court on Wednesday over an alleged plot to smuggle $64 million of cocaine into Australia.

Fitness instructor Julian Lee, from Bondi, was charged Friday as part of the Australian Federal Police’s encrypted app AN0M sting and Operation Ironside.

Lee, who is married to Instagram star Hoang Ang Lee aka Dirdy Birdy, was charged with directing a criminal group and leading a conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of drugs.

There is no suggestion Ms Lee is involved in the alleged offence.

Acting on information obtained by the Australian Federal Police from the secret police encrypted app known as AN0M, Belgian police swooped on the fruit juice tanker Ouro Do Brasil when it pulled into the port of Ghent last Monday.

Insta-famous pole dancer Hoang Anh Le aka Dirsy Birdy and husband Julian Lee.

Police allege cocaine packed into three bags and weighing 216 kilograms was found secreted inside the ship’s sea chest, which is below the waterline on the ship’s hull.

Australian Federal Police had been tracking the vessel, which sails under a Liberian flag of convenience, after it left Brazil in South America on June 8.

Police claim it was ultimately bound for Newcastle, and have alleged the 41-year-old Sydney man arrested yesterday had been making arrangements for a team of divers to extract the drugs from underneath the ship once it arrived on Australian shores.

The alleged plot was uncovered by the AFP-led Operation Ironside, which targeted some 11,000 users of the encrypted device and platform known as AN0M, which was being secretly monitored by the AFP and run by the FBI.

The Australian Border Force identified and located the vessel, and, acting on intelligence provided by the AFP, agencies including the Belgian Federal Judicial Police, Belgian Maritime and River Police, Belgian Customs and Excise Investigations Brand and Dutch Customs Divers Team searched the vessel when it pulled into Ghent.

Lee, 41, has been charged in connection to a seizure in Belgium of 216kg of cocaine, as a result of Operation Ironside.

According to the AFP, an underwater search was conducted by a dive team, which included a search of the ship’s sea chest.

The sea chest was described as an opening in the ship’s hull, below the water line, through which seawater is pumped to fill ballast tanks or to cool the engine room.

Lee was arrested after police raided his Bondi home early on Friday. He was later charged him with conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, a crime which carries a potential life imprisonment sentence.

He was also charged with knowingly direct a criminal group, and possess a prohibited weapon without being authorised to do so.

Lee is a Bondi fitness instructor. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

Some of the drugs allegedly found in the ship’s hull.

He appeared in court late Friday, where he was remanded in custody to appear again on Wednesday.

It is alleged Mr Lee is associated with the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang.

A second man, aged 40 from Sydney, who was currently in custody awaiting trial on unrelated charges, is also expected to face additional charges in connection with the alleged plot.

The Ouro Do Brasil that travelled from Brazil to Belgium.

AFP Detective Superintendent Matthew Ciantar thanked the international law enforcement agencies including the Belgium police and customs authorities, who had ensured “the drugs never made it to Australia.’’

He said police continued to follow up intelligence gleaned from the AFP-led Operation Ironside, and further arrests were expected.

Originally published as Julian Lee charged over $64m worth of cocaine found in ship