1 in 2 Australian police officers throw packets of ‘counterfeit cocaine’ then arrest traffickers who searched for the drug at sea — Photo: Western Australian Police/Reproduction Australian police officers throw packets of ‘counterfeit cocaine’ then pursue and arrest traffickers Those doing so sought the drug at sea — Photo: WA Police/Reproduction
Intercepted a joint USAustralian operation 2.4 tons of cocaine and dismantled an international human trafficking network, according to details released this Saturday (4) by Australian police.
The drug, linked to a Mexican cartel, was on board a ship off the coast of South America bound for Australia.
Cocaine had an estimated value of approx BRL 3.5 billion. That’s half of Australia’s estimated annual consumption, making the arrest one of the largest involving Australian police.
Twelve suspects were arrested, according to Australian police, in an operation that began in November when the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) intercepted the ship.
West Australian police replaced the cargo with identically packaged counterfeit cocaine and dumped it into the sea on December 28 about 70km from Perth as if it had fallen off a ship.
Three suspected members of the “Australian arm of a drug syndicate” were also arrested 1.2 tons of counterfeit cocaine on December 30th, after making three sea voyages to collect the packages.
A further nine arrests were made over the following days, including a police raid on the Great Eastern Highway some 600km from Perth in which officers found the equivalent of more than 10 trillion people BRL 7 billion in cash.
2 out of 2 Australian police officers found the equivalent of more than R$7 billion in cash during an antidrug operation — Photo: Western Australian Police / Reproduction Australian Police found the equivalent of more than R$7 billion in cash during an antidrug operation — Photo : Western Australian Police/Reproduction
Western Australia Police Commissioner Colonel Blanch praised the success: “The operation sends a message to international drug traffickers their deadly drugs are not welcome here.”
Police said a 39yearold US citizen was among the 12 suspects. The nationalities of the other prisoners were not disclosed.