TODAY (29 April) has seen a number of reported developments related to separate importation-related drug busts, as revealed by the Australian Border Force (ABF) and Australian Federal Police (AFP).

Cocaine concealed in marine engines

A Gold Coast man is expected to appear before the Southport Magistrates Court today (29 April) over his alleged role in the importation of 140kg of cocaine concealed in marine engines.

The 35-year old man was charged by the AFP yesterday. Investigations began when ABF officials found a large quantity of plastic-wrapped blocks inside two wooden-crated marine engines, which arrived in Brisbane from California, USA, inside a sea container on 28 October last year.

Initial testing of the blocks returned a positive result for cocaine, and the matter was referred to the AFP, which substituted the illicit drugs with an inert substance before placing the blocks back inside the engines.

The container was delivered to a semi-rural property in Mount Nathan on the Gold Coast on 14 November, 2024. Observations identified that the contents were then removed and transported about 15km to a property in Wongawallan the following day, authorities said.

That evening, police allege the man visited the property in Wongawallan and tried to retrieve the inert substance, believing it was illicit drugs from the engines, but left empty handed.

On 17 November, 2024, the AFP executed search warrants at the man’s home in Burleigh Heads, as well as the properties in Mt Nathan and Wongawallan. 

Police located two wooden crates and two large marine engines in a shed at the property in Wongawallan, as well as a forklift, which was allegedly hired by the man to move the crates. Mobile phones and power tools were among the items seized from the properties.

AFP acting commander Adrian Telfer said the AFP and its partners remained committed to disrupting the supply of illicit drugs into Australia to protect the community from serious harm and heartache.

“Criminal syndicates will hide these hideous illicit drugs in all types of containers to smuggle them into our country and circulate them throughout our communities,” Acting Commander Telfer said.

ABF inspector Kylie Black said her officers would not waver in their mission to protect Australians from criminal syndicates.

“Our committed officers at the ABF are well trained and use the most current intelligence and technology to detect and intercept these illicit drugs, no matter where the criminal syndicates try to hide them,” she said.

Authorities foil $18 million cocaine tyre import

A Sydney father and son have both been sentenced to imprisonment in Western Australia for their involvement in a 2022 plot to import and distribute 56kg of cocaine from Switzerland.

Operation Dommeldange, which resulted in their arrest, was launched in June 2022, when ABF officers at a Perth cargo facility found packages of white powder stuffed behind the rims of four new car wheels imported via air cargo.

The AFP established there was about 56kg of white powder, which contained 37.67kg of pure cocaine, and replaced the drugs with an inert substance before releasing the tyres for delivery.

On 24 April the Perth District Court sentenced one man, now 28, to 11 years and six months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of seven years, after he pleaded guilty last year to the attempted possession of a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug

His father, now 56, also pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years, for aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring the commission of his son’s offence.

AFP acting commander Peter Hatch said the AFP worked closely with ABF and other partners to keep the community safe and ensure Australia was a hostile environment for drug-trafficking syndicates.

“This amount of cocaine could have been worth about $18.2 million and sold in the community as 280,000 individual street deals of 0.2 grams,” Mr Hatch said.

“The seizure and investigation have prevented harm and stopped the money from going directly into the pockets of criminals.”

ABF commander Ranjeev Maharaj said the ABF was committed to working with law enforcement partners to see criminals face the full force of the law for their actions.

“No matter what creative methods are used to conceal them, the ABF is alert to attempts to import illegal substances and will take every action to disrupt this abhorrent trade.”

Man charged over Territory’s largest ever Ketamine bust

A Northern Territory man appeared in Darwin Local Court on 24 April, charged with the alleged importation and possession of more than 4kg of ketamine, believed to be the NT’s largest ketamine seizure.

The man, 32, who was arrested on 23 April, is due to face court again on 2 May.

A Northern Territory Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (NT JOCTF) investigation began in April after ABF members at Sydney Airport identified a consignment suspected of containing ketamine that arrived on a flight from Germany.

Investigators from NT JOCTF, which comprises of members from the AFP, Northern Territory Police, ABF, and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), replaced the illicit drugs, which were disguised in several sports energy drink and protein bar packages, with an inert substance.

After retrieving the crystallised ketamine from the packages, officers determined the estimated weight of the illicit drugs to be 4.08kg. Authorities said this amount of ketamine has an estimated street value of $800,000.

The parcel was then delivered to its intended address in Zuccoli, near Darwin, where officers allegedly observed a man signing and taking possession of the delivery.

NT JOCFT investigators then executed a search warrant at the property and arrested the man. During the search, officers allegedly located the opened parcel containing the substituted illicit drugs.

The 32-year old was charged with the following offences; One count of importing a commercial quantity of ketamine, one count of possessing a dangerous drug, and one count of supply a dangerous drug. Each of these offences carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

AFP superintendent Greg Davis commented, “The AFP, together with our partners under the NT JOCTF have prevented ketamine from reaching Australian streets under this investigation”.

“Our investigators continue to work collaboratively to ensure Australia remains a hostile environment for criminal syndicates in order to prevent any form of illicit drugs from entering the Australian community and causing widespread harm.

“This operation should serve as a significant warning to transnational serious organised crime syndicates – the AFP and our partners remain one step ahead of your illicit activities and will ensure you are brought to justice.”

NT Police Force detective superintendent Lee Morgan said the NT Police Force reiterated that these drugs were manufactured in unregulated and unhygienic conditions, and anyone choosing to use them was gambling with their life.

“We will continue to work closely with our partner agencies to combat imports of illicit substances into the Northern Territory,” Mr Morgan said.