Australian police seize report cocaine haul value £400m as ‘mothership’ stays out of attain | EUROtoday

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Australian police seized a report 2.3 tonnes of cocaine over the weekend after a fishing boat broke down off the Queensland coast, resulting in the arrest of at the least 13 folks.

The detained individuals are suspected to be members of a drug smuggling syndicate aboard a mothership crusing in worldwide waters.

This is the largest haul of cocaine ever seized in Australia, with an estimated resale worth of AUS $760m (£388m), police stated.

The medication got here from an unidentified nation in South America, investigators in Brisbane stated on Monday.

The alleged drug traffickers have been left stranded on Saturday after their boat suffered a suspected mechanical breakdown 18km off the northeastern tip of Okay’gari island, previously often known as Fraser Island, police stated.

Police had been tipped off concerning the Comancheros motorbike gang planning a big drug smuggling operation, federal police commander Stephen Jay stated.

The smugglers tried twice to herald medication by sea from a mothership floating a whole lot of kilometres offshore, Mr Jay added.

The first boat broke down and the second foundered on Saturday, leaving the suspects stranded at sea for a number of hours till police raided and seized the medication.

They arrested two males at sea and 11 offshore, together with two minors underneath the age of 18. All of them are Australian residents, police stated.

The most punishment for drug trafficking is life imprisonment.

The arrested males embody the Brisbane vice chairman of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, who’s accused of participating in violence, extortion and trafficking, police stated.

All suspects have been charged for being a part of a prison syndicate and with conspiracy to import a industrial amount of medication into Australia by sea. They are set to be introduced in varied courts on Monday.

“Australia is a very attractive market for organised criminal groups to send drugs such as cocaine,” Mr Jay stated.