$760 million worth of cocaine seizure off Queensland coast

Australian Community Media

The Australian Federal Police charged 11 men and two juveniles after uncovering 2.34 tonnes of cocaine, worth$760 million, onboard a ship returning into Queensland waters.

Transcript

00:00The AFP has seized more than 2.3 tonnes of cocaine

00:03in what we believe is the largest ever seizure of the drug in Australia.

00:08The AFP seized the drugs on Saturday night after successfully

00:12disrupting an alleged plot by a transnational organised crime syndicate

00:16attempting to import the cocaine into Australia via a sea to sea

00:21transfer off the coast of Queensland. The AFP and the Queensland Police Service

00:26have been jointly investigating this matter for the past month

00:29following intelligence being received that an alleged criminal syndicate

00:33with links to the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang

00:37were planning a multi-tonne cocaine import off the coast of Queensland.

00:43Over the past few days investigators tracked a vessel

00:47that syndicate allegedly sent to collect the drugs from a mother ship

00:51located approximately 460 kilometres off the Queensland coast.

00:57As the vessel returned to Queensland coast on Saturday evening it suffered

01:00mechanical issues and broke down triggering a coordinated

01:05police action on Saturday evening at sea in the Bundaberg region and in

01:10Brisbane leading to the arrest of 11 men and two

01:14juveniles we will allege were involved

01:17in this conspiracy to import more than two tonnes of cocaine into Australia.

01:22Each member of the alleged criminal syndicate has been charged with a single

01:25count of conspiracy to import 2.34 tonnes of cocaine into Australia

01:30which as I mentioned we believe is the largest ever

01:33seizure of cocaine in this country.

Category

Transcript

Recommended