Australian police arrested eleven men and two minors last weekend who tried to smuggle 2,340 kilograms of cocaine into the country on a yacht. According to police, it is the largest drug bust ever in Australia.
Police estimate the street value of the drugs at 760 million Australian dollars (almost 470 million euros). According to the authorities, they have dismantled a transnational criminal network with the arrests. The suspects risk life imprisonment.
The suspects attempted to smuggle the drugs into the Australian state of Queensland using a sailing yacht. The drugs were probably picked up at sea from a mother ship. The drug smugglers were arrested when their boat developed technical problems. According to the police, it was the second attempt: the first boat had also been wrecked.
Images shared by Australian police show the packages of cocaine on board the sailing yacht.
Thanks to international cooperation between 62 countries, a total of 225,000 kilos of cocaine were seized worldwide in October and November. Operation Orion, as the mission was called, also uncovered a “new smuggling route” using submarines between Colombia and Australia.
