Record Cocaine Seizure on Stranded Fishing Boat #

Australian authorities seized the country’s largest cocaine haul from a fishing boat that had broken down near the coast of Queensland. The police arrested 13 people linked to a drug-smuggling syndicate. A recreational fishing boat was tracked out to sea, where it met a mothership in international waters to collect cocaine. The haul amounted to 2.34 metric tons, with a street value approaching half a billion dollars.

The stranded boat, suffering a mechanical failure, was found 18 kilometers off the northeastern tip of K’gari island. Police boarded the vessel, arresting two men at sea, while another 11 were arrested on shore, including two juveniles. Among those arrested was a leading member of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, involved in alleged violence, extortion, and trafficking.

Accused of comprising part of a criminal syndicate, the suspects face charges of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of drugs, carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The cocaine was estimated to equal 11.7 million individual street deals.

“We know that criminals go to extreme lengths, and often risk their own lives, to smuggle drugs into Australia with no regard to the harm they cause to Australian communities.”

The operation culminated from a tip-off about the Comanchero gang’s plan to import drugs. Recent increases in international interest from drug cartels have targeted Australia, driven by rising cocaine use and some of the highest global street prices. This operation follows another significant anti-drug effort in Colombia, where six ’narco subs’ laden with 225 metric tons of cocaine were intercepted, including a semi-submersible en route to Australia.