Police have charged the chief officer of an international livestock carrier and three others, after half a tonne of cocaine was found floating off Western Australia’s coast.
Fishermen found the large package tied to a floating drum about 30 kilometres offshore near Lancelin, north of Perth, on November 6.
Officers from WA Police and the Australian Federal Police collected the bundle later that day and estimated the 525-kilogram parcel of cocaine had a street value of more than $170 million.
Some of the drugs seized in the bust. (Supplied: WA Police)
A special taskforce was already investigating suspicious activity by an international vessel off WA, the Al Kuwait, when police were alerted of the discovery.
The Western Australia Joint Organised Crime Taskforce alleged the drugs were dropped into the ocean from the livestock carrier on its way to the Fremantle Harbour.
Chief charged
The day after the drugs were found, police charged the vessel’s chief officer with attempting to import a commercial quantity of cocaine.
Investigators searched his ship and found a blue drum and ropes similar to those allegedly found with the drugs.
An image of authorities collecting some of the drugs from the sea. (Supplied: WA Police)
Police said the CCTV camera had also been covered while the drugs were allegedly offloaded into the ocean.
The 46-year-old Croatian national will face a maximum penalty of life in prison and will stay in custody until he is due to appear before the Perth Magistrates Court in January.
WA Police Assistant Commissioner Tony Longhorn said police suspected the haul was linked to South American cartels, which he said were “having a prolific impact on the production and the distribution of illicit drugs worldwide”.
Others linked to operation
Two Sydney men, aged 19 and 36, and a 52-year-old Perth man were all allegedly part of the shore party, who were responsible for collecting the cocaine and bringing it to shore.
Australian Federal Police estimate the drugs would have a street value of $170 million. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)
“We believe that the first attempt by the shore party was successful in retrieving a small quantity of what’s been seized,” Assistant Commissioner Longhorn said.
“Then it was the subsequent attempts and the information that was provided to police, which we were then able to intercept and identify [the men].”
Police have seized more than half a tonne of cocaine in waters off WA’s coast. (ABC News: Robert Koenig-Luck)
Officers are searching for a fifth man they believe is also part of the group, who they think is in New South Wales.
The two Sydney men have been extradited to WA and were charged with possessing a commercial quantity of cocaine.
The men are expected to remain in custody until they appear in the Magistrates Court in Perth. (ABC News: Keana Naughton)
The Perth man was charged with one count of attempting to possess a prohibited drug.
Police said they expect more arrests to be made as they continued to investigate the alleged organised crime syndicate behind the plot and the origin of the cocaine.
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