The Australian Federal Police say they have made the largest cocaine bust in the country's history, seizing 2.7 tonnes of the drug in Sydney's west. Officers say the haul was uncovered after they raided a property near Londonderry, on the outskirts of Western Sydney, on Friday. The force has described the operation as a record seizure for Australia, marking a significant blow to those behind the alleged trafficking.
According to investigators, the cocaine had been painstakingly concealed at the property. Officers found the drug packed into plastic tubs inside an underground bunker, which had itself been hidden beneath false floors built into shipping containers stored on the site. The elaborate method of concealment pointed to a sophisticated and well-resourced operation rather than an opportunistic one.
Two men were arrested in the wake of the raids, both aged 21. One is from Plumpton and the other from Liverpool, two suburbs in Sydney's west. Those charged over the seizure are due to appear in court in August, while officers continue to build their case and pursue other lines of inquiry connected to the consignment.
The operation that led to the record seizure was set in motion last month, after Queensland police discovered around 40 kilograms of cocaine floating near a boat ramp at Mackay, in the state's north. That discovery off Midge Point prompted authorities to begin tracing how the drug had entered the country and where it was ultimately headed.
The AFP alleges the cocaine was first imported into Australia aboard an international vessel that docked off Midge Point in North Queensland. From there, investigators say, it was transported south to Sydney on behalf of an organised crime group. Police say the May discovery of the floating packages led directly to the most recent record raid in Western Sydney.
Authorities have estimated the value of the seizure at around 817 million dollars. According to the AFP, the 2.7 tonnes of cocaine would have equated to more than three million individual street deals had it reached the market, underlining the sheer scale of the trafficking effort that has now been disrupted.
Police say the investigation into the alleged links with organised crime remains very much ongoing. Australian authorities have indicated they are keen to work with their international partners to establish who assisted with the alleged importation and to disrupt the wider network believed to be operating behind it.