Two teenagers have been arrested alongside 11 men in what's been called Australia's biggest drug bust.
The joint operation between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Queensland Police Service intercepted the group's plans.
The Australian Border Force (ABF) reported that the group planned to import 2.34 tons of cocaine into the country, by sea.
"Codenamed Operation Tyrrendor, the investigation began last month, following intelligence that a criminal syndicate with links to the Comanchero motorcycle crime gang was planning to import border-controlled drugs into Australia," the ABF said. The ABF added that it had tracked a recreational fishing boat as it travelled to sea, where it allegedly came into contact with a larger ship to collect the cocaine before returning to the Queensland coastline.
"The cocaine had an estimated street value of about $760 million (R13,705,570.96) with the potential to equate to 11.7 million individual street deals, had it reached the community," the ABF said.
AFP said in the past financial year, officers prevented 33.7 tons of illicit drugs entering the country.
"The majority of illicit drugs seized include methamphetamine, 1,4-butanediol also known as ‘bute', cocaine, MDMA, ketamine and heroin," the agency said. It added that working with the ABF, it was able to disrupt criminal syndicates from bringing drugs in through the country's border.
"We’ve disrupted a wide range of attempted methods to import illicit substance through aviation, maritime and postal steams. During this period, we’ve located and seized illicit drugs hidden in juice bottles, body oil, hand sanitiser, camp stretchers, clothing, vehicles, mixed with sand, some people packed them inside their luggage while others chose to attempt to conceal them internally," the AFP stated.
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