Australian police ensnares $160 million cocaine, third biggest catch in history

[Lucinda F. Boyd]

Organised crimes in Australia suffered a major blow on Friday as authorities seized an estimated half tonne of cocaine in Brisbane that could easily fetch some $160 million had it managed to hit the nation's streets.

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REUTERS/Ho New

Australian police ensnares $160 million cocaine, third biggest catch in history

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• Australia
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Organised crimes in Australia suffered a major blow on Friday as authorities seized an estimated half tonne of cocaine in Brisbane that could easily fetch some $160 million had it managed to hit the nation’s streets.

The breakthrough drug bust, according to Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor, was made following tips from US authorities, which also underscored the fact that good and working cooperation with international drug agencies was crucial in combating the drug menace being exported by the transnational efforts of global organised crimes.

Mr O'Connor lauded the hard work contributed by the country's law enforcement agencies in realising what he called as the third biggest cocaine seizure in Australian history as he told AAP that the incident proved that "if we want to dismantle organised crime we must attack the money flow, we must attack their income source."

Joint efforts by the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service led to the confiscation of a total of 464 kilograms of cocaine from a catamaran anchored at Scarborough Marina in Redcliffe, Brisbane.

Drug authorities from the United States forwarded information to the federal police last week that alerted the AFP to monitor a yacht from South America, which allegedly would attempt to ship in a large amount of cocaine into Australia.

The resulting raid at the Brisbane marina yielded the apprehension of three men from New South Wales, which reports said were known to have criminal affiliations.

The AFP filed charges of attempted importation of a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug against two of those arrested while a third man would be facing illegal possession charges.

Australia saw its biggest drug bust in Western Australia when police authorities seized some 938 kilograms of cocaine in 2001, which was followed by the New South Wales 502 kilogram drug confiscation earlier in 2000..