The AFP has charged 11 men and two juveniles following the largest cocaine seizure in Australian history with a street value of $760 million.
Following a joint Australian Federal Police, Queensland Police Service and Border Force investigation into a transnational organised crime syndicate, police will allege the men conspired to import 2.34 tonnes of cocaine into Australia by sea.
The men, including the crew of a vessel allegedly attempted to import the illicit drugs into Queensland with multiple parties waiting on shore to collect the cocaine.
They were arrested on Saturday, November 30, at night, and in the early hours of Sunday, December 1.
Three more men, aged 20, 28 and 34, and two juveniles, were arrested following a traffic stop near Link Road, Bundaberg East about 9pm on Saturday, November 30.
The AFP will allege one of the men arrested on Saturday night is the vice president of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle club’s Brisbane chapter. He was charged this afternoon, Monday December 2.
The cocaine, with an estimated street value of about $760 million dollars equates to about 11.7 million individual street deals.
AFP Commander Stephen Jay said the AFP was alert to transnational organised crime syndicates (TSOC) attempting to import drugs into Australia via motherships and daughter-ships, where illicit drugs were smuggled into Australian waters on ships for retrieval by local crews.
“This alleged attempt to collect more than two tonnes of cocaine from the ocean shows that criminals will do anything for their own greed and profit,” Commander Stephen Jay said.
In the past week the AFP, QPS and Australian Border Force (ABF), tracked a recreational fishing boat, recently purchased by a 35-year-old man, as it travelled to sea, where it allegedly met a mothership to collect the cocaine, before returning towards the Queensland coastline.
“I would like to thank the exceptional work of our AFP investigators, together with our QPS and law enforcement counterparts, who have together prevented a significant amount of illicit drugs from hitting our community, right before Christmas,” Commander Stephen Jay said.
In the past week the AFP, QPS and Australian Border Force (ABF), tracked a recreational fishing boat, recently purchased by a 35-year-old man, as it travelled to sea, where it allegedly met a mothership to collect the cocaine, before returning towards the Queensland coastline.
A fishing boat became stranded about 18km off the northeastern tip of K’gari due to a suspected mechanical breakdown on Saturday as the AFP and QPS initiated multiple arrests at sea, in the Bundaberg region and Brisbane.
About 7.40pm, AFP tactical officers boarded the stranded recreational fishing boat off K’gari and arrested the two men on board, aged 35 and 57.
A search of the vessel allegedly found 51 bales with roped netting around them. Each bale contained about 40kg of a white substance packaged in individual 1kg blocks.
Two members of a group planning to collect the drugs on-shore, men aged 43 and 44, were arrested by QPS tactical officers in the vicinity of the Strathdees Boat Ramp, near the Port of Bundaberg, about 7pm on Saturday, November 30.
About 7.50pm, three men, aged 20, 22 and 28 were arrested near a fast food restaurant in Bundaberg East.
The substance returned a presumptive positive result for cocaine. The total estimated gross weight of the suspected cocaine located is 2.34 tonnes, which is the largest amount of cocaine seized by the AFP.
Forensic testing will determine the exact weight and purity of the alleged cocaine.
In Brisbane, the AFP and QPS executed a search warrant at a house in Victoria Point and arrested the 51-year-old male resident of this address.
The 11 men and two juveniles are alleged to be members of the criminal syndicate and were each charged with one count of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs.
The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
Today, two men, aged 35 and 37, will appear before the Maryborough Magistrates Court. A 51-year-old man will appear before the Cleveland Magistrates Court.
Another eight men, aged 20 to 44 years old, will appear before the Bundaberg Magistrates Court later today.
Queensland Police Service Detective Acting Chief Superintendent Craig Morrow, said the success of Operation Tyrrendor demonstrated the extraordinary commitment and resources QPS dedicated to combatting organised crime.
“Our strong relationships with partner agencies nationally and internationally remains crucial in the fight against organised crime,” a/Chief Superintendent Craig Morrow said.
ABF Acting Assistant Commissioner James Copeman said this successful operation was yet another example of Australian law enforcement agencies working together to protect the Australian community.
“To all potential criminals, know this: no matter how you attempt to bring drugs into Australia, you will be caught. Together with our partner agencies, the Australian Border Force will ensure our borders remain secure and Australians safe,” ABF Acting Assistant Commissioner James Copeman said
The investigation, codenamed Operation Tyrrendor, began in November, 2024, following intelligence that a criminal syndicate with links to the Comanchero motorcycle crime gang was planning to import border-controlled drugs into Australia. It was also assisted with intelligence provided by the NSW Crime Commission.
