POLICE in March seized around 200 kilograms of cocaine onboard a small boat after it rendezvoused with containership MSC Joanna as it approached Port Botany.
The AFP was tipped off that the vessel had the Australia-bound contraband onboard and put MSC Joanna under surveillance as it entered Australian waters.
Before sunrise on 11 March, authorities saw a small vessel launched from Taren Point in Botany Bay as MSC Joanna approached the port.
The small vessel then went to the containership and police allege 11 green-lidded crates containing 199 blocks of cocaine were offloaded from MSC Joanna and transported to the smaller vessel, which made its way back towards shore and was intercepted by NSW Police officers.
Police arrested a South Australian man who was at the helm of the small boat and searched MSC Joanna when it berthed at Botany.
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