Australia seizes 800kg of cocaine worth $210m from cargo ship

Police in Australia intercepted and extracted more than 800kg of cocaine from a cargo ship in what was described as one of the largest drug hauls in decades.

Three men who were trying to smuggle cocaine into Western Australia on the bulk cargo vessel were arrested, authorities said on Friday.

Australian authorities retrieved 29 packages containing numerous one-kilogramme blocks of a white powdered substance later revealed to be cocaine, Australian police said in a statement.

The value of the cache of drugs seized is estimated to be around $210m.

The police were informed of a plan to drop a massive cache of drugs into the ocean sometime last month, local reports said.

The smugglers’ plan began to fall apart when three men, who allegedly set out on a cabin cruiser to retrieve the drugs, ran into engine trouble off Rottnest Island on 24 May.

“The Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, West Australian Police Force, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the Department of Home Affairs have combined all of our resources to stop this attempt by organised crime to profit at the expense of our communities,” Australian federal police assistant commissioner Pryce Scanlan said in a statement.

“The navy clearance divers spent more than 90 minutes on board this vessel in a confined space to extract this quantity of drugs from the flooded ballast tank.

“The interception of this amount of drugs would be a significant blow to well-resourced syndicates and prevents millions of dollars of drug profits flowing back to the criminals involved in this drug venture,” he said.

The three men, aged 21, 25 and 29, were arrested on Wednesday in Sydney and Perth, local media reported.

The merchant vessel ST Pinot had travelled from South America and had been bought using cash a day earlier. Reports said the three men on board “appeared to have limited boating experience”.

They were charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs and face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted.

“Cocaine shipments are being seized at Australia’s borders at record levels,” Australian Border Force Commander Operations West Ranjeev Maharaj said.

“It’s incredible to think that those behind this audacious attempt thought they could get away it.”