WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australian police seized a record 2.3 tonnes of cocaine and arrested 13 people in a raid after a suspect's boat broke down off the coast of Queensland, authorities said Monday. did.
Federal police said in a statement that sales of the drug amounted to A$760 million ($494 million), which would be equivalent to 11.7 million street transactions if it reached the country of 28 million people. did.
Investigators told reporters in Brisbane that the drugs were shipped from an unidentified South American country.
Australian Federal Police Commander Stephen Jay said Saturday and Sunday's arrests were made after a month-long investigation following a tip-off that the Comancheros motorcycle group was planning a multi-tonne smuggling operation. That's what it means.
Mr Jay said the smugglers had twice attempted to transport the drugs to Australia from a mother ship hundreds of kilometers offshore. He said the first boat broke down and a second one sank on Saturday, leaving the suspects stranded at sea for several hours until police raided the fishing boat and seized the drugs.
Jay said the mothership was in international waters and no arrests were made.
Mr Jay said authorities had seized more than a tonne of cocaine so far, but the weekend seizure was the largest in Australia's history.
Those indicted were charged with conspiring to import goods by sea into Australia and were scheduled to appear in various courts on Monday. The maximum penalty for this charge is life in prison.
Police said some were arrested on the boat, while others were waiting on shore to retrieve the cocaine. Both men were under the age of 18 and all Australian citizens.
“Australia is a very attractive market for organized crime groups to send drugs such as cocaine,” Mr Jay said.
