Record Cocaine Bust in Australia Uncovers Buried Drug Caches and Suspected Crime Network
A record cocaine seizure in Australia has exposed what police described as an elaborate international trafficking operation involving buried drug caches, a suspected foreign supply vessel and an alleged Sydney-based crime network.
Authorities said Monday that investigators recovered 2.7 tons of cocaine from underground bunkers hidden on a semi-rural property in Londonderry, a northwestern suburb of greater Sydney.
The drugs, which police said were packed inside plastic tubs and buried beneath false floors, represent the largest cocaine seizure ever recorded in Australia and the country’s biggest drug bust in nearly two decades, second only to a 4.5-ton MDMA seizure in Melbourne in 2007.
The discovery was made Friday during an operation by a joint organized crime task force, with Australian Federal Police working alongside investigators from multiple states as part of Operation Minjiang, a Queensland-based task force focused on an alleged east coast drug network.
Two men, ages 21 and 25, were arrested at the property after they allegedly tried to flee from officers. Police described them as lower-level participants in a wider importation network linked to the Coconut Cartel syndicate, which authorities said includes former members of a prominent Sydney crime family. Each has been charged with possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported drug, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The men were refused bail Saturday and are expected to appear in Penrith Local Court on August 13.
Investigators allege the cocaine was imported through northern Queensland, where a foreign vessel offloaded the shipment before it was moved south to Sydney for distribution. Authorities said the importation was allegedly arranged by a Sydney-based organized crime group.
A vessel suspected of serving as the mother ship in the importation, the MV Wealth, has been detained in the Solomon Islands while authorities continue to examine its alleged role. The vessel is registered in Belize, though investigators said the cocaine’s point of origin remains unclear and may have been loaded anywhere from South America to northeast Asia.
Australian Federal Police Commander Stephen Jay said investigators are still working to trace the shipment and identify the broader network behind it.
“Investigations into the origin of the drugs remain ongoing, and we will work with our international and domestic law enforcement partners to identify the criminal syndicates.”
Jay said the cocaine could have generated more than Aus$800 million ($560 million) if sold on the street — proceeds that, “won’t make it into the pockets of organized crime.” Police placed the estimated street value at about Aus$816 million and said the amount seized was equivalent to roughly 3 million street-level deals.
“This alleged plot to distribute nearly three tons of cocaine … demonstrates how highly organized and determined these criminal networks are,” Jay said.
“We will work … to identify the criminal syndicates and anyone else involved in facilitating this alleged attempted drug import,” he added.
Jay said the loss would likely reverberate through the criminal network behind the shipment.
“There’ll be some soul-searching, no doubt, about losing Australia’s largest quantity of cocaine,” he said.
Police said six other people linked to the alleged importation had already been arrested and charged with drug-related offenses. One of them, a 31-year-old woman, allegedly lived at a suspected safehouse connected to the operation and was involved in storing the cocaine.
The broader investigation began in May, after Queensland police found 40 kilograms of cocaine in the water near the Midge Point boat ramp following reports of a burned-out flatbed truck. The six people later charged faced varying allegations, including drug possession and dealing with proceeds of crime.
“We know criminals go to extreme lengths, and often risk their own lives, to smuggle drugs into Australia with no regard to the harm they cause to Australian communities.”
Since Operation Minjiang began in May, authorities have also seized 178 kilograms of cocaine and 142 kilograms of methamphetamine, bringing the total amount of drugs confiscated through the investigation to more than 3 tons.
Queensland Police Acting Chief Superintendent Troy Pukallus said the case grew from local police work into a broader multi-agency investigation.
“What began with the actions of Mackay police … evolved into a sophisticated, multi-agency investigation targeting an organized criminal network,” he said.
The case also highlights the growing role of Pacific Island states as transit points for illicit drug shipments headed toward Australia and New Zealand. Authorities have previously warned that cocaine and methamphetamine are being moved through the region from as far away as South America and Southeast Asia.
“Criminals don’t care about borders, and they exploit our oceans to traffic drugs,” police said in a post on social media.
The record seizure comes amid growing concern about cocaine use and its consequences in Australia. Cocaine-related deaths rose 28% to a record 141 in 2024, according to an annual overdose report released this month by the Penington Institute, a drug-use research organization.
It also follows a series of major cocaine busts in the country. Last September, three dockworkers were arrested after authorities found more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine hidden behind a false wall inside a shipping container at Sydney’s waterfront. That same month, police said they had dismantled a trafficking ring known as “The Commission,” which allegedly brought more than a ton of cocaine into Australia within a few months.
In December 2024, Australian police seized 2.3 tons of cocaine and arrested 13 people after a fishing boat broke down off the Queensland coast.
The Londonderry discovery is also the second major underground drug operation revealed this month. In early June, U.S. authorities said they found a 2,000-foot tunnel connecting border cities in Mexico and California. The tunnel was equipped with electricity, reinforced walls, ventilation and a rail system.
Moumita Basuroychowdhury is a Contributing Reporter at The National Digest. After earning an economics degree at Cornell University, she moved to NYC to pursue her MFA in creative writing. She enjoys reporting on science, business and culture news. You can reach her at moumita.b@thenationaldigest.com.
