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Record Cocaine Bust in Australia Uncovers Buried Drug Caches and Suspected Crime Network

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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.

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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.

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“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.

Hundreds Arrested In Global FBI Sting Operation Using Undercover Messaging App 

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Law enforcement agencies announced this week that hundreds of criminal gangs around the world have been divulging plans to move large drug shipments and carry out killings on a messaging app that was secretly being run by the FBI. The agency said that this was a “global sting operation that dealt an unprecedented blow to organized crime in countries around the world.”

The mission itself was known as operation Trojan Shield and led police to gangs in 16 nations. Over 800 suspects have now been arrested and over 32 tons of drugs were seized; including cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines, and methamphetamines. Additionally, 250 firearms, 55 luxury cars, and more than $148 million in cash and cryptocurrency were seized. 

The operation initially started when law enforcement shut down EncroChat and Sky ECC, two encrypted platforms that were known for being used by criminals to communicate without worry of outside interference. 

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After these lines of communication were cut, the FBI developed their own covert app called ANOM that was installed onto modified phones. Over the past 18 months the FBI has been secretly providing phones using an unsuspecting middleman that infiltrated over 300 gangs operating in more than 100 countries. 

Calvin Shivers, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division, spoke at a news conference this week about the major operation. 

“Intelligence gathered and analyzed using this app enabled us to prevent murders. It led to the seizure of weapons and it helped prevent a number of crimes. The operation dealt with an unprecedented blow to criminal networks worldwide.”

“There was a void that was created by a lack of these encrypted platforms. So that created an opportunity for collaboration with our international partners, to not only develop the specific tool but also to develop the process of gathering the intelligence and disseminating the intelligence,” Shivers explained. 

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“The ANOM app became popular in criminal circles as users told one another it was safe. Meanwhile, the police were looking over their shoulders the whole time.”

According to a statement from Linda Staaf, the head of Sweden’s national criminal intelligence unit, “Swedish police prevented dozens of planned killings and have arrested what we believe to be leading actors in criminal networks.”

Finnish police reported that they have detained about 100 people and more than half a ton of confiscated drugs, along with hundreds of illegally owned guns and cash. German prosecutors reported more than 70 arrests in connection to the sting. 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters the nation’s authorities “arrested 224 people and seized more than four tons of drugs and $35 million. Today, the Australian government, as part of a global operation, has struck a heavy blow against organized crime. Not just in this country, but one that will echo around organized crime around the world.”

“The success of Operation Trojan Shield is a result of tremendous innovation, dedication and unprecedented international collaboration. And the results are staggering,” Shivers proclaimed.

Drugs

U.S. and China Joint Investigation Leads To Arrests In Massive Fentanyl Trafficking Ring

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China and the United States clearly never see eye to eye. However, this week, the two countries worked together to make a big arrest involving a massive fentanyl smuggling ring between America and China. This Thursday, Chinese authorities sentenced one man to death and imprisoned eight others for trafficking fentanyl into the United States (NBC). Initially, the joint effort was in response to President Donald Trump’s public criticism and call to action directed at China to adopt stricter policies regarding drug trafficking, especially when it comes to fentanyl which is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. every year. 

“The case started with an arrest in New Orleans in August 2017 that revealed information about a woman in China, known as ‘Diana’, who sold narcotics online and shipped orders to the U.S. That information was passed on by American officials to drug investigators in China, who spent months uncovering a sprawling network of fentanyl labs, producers and dealers,” according to Janis Frayer for NBC. 

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Police stand guard outside the Xingtai Intermediate People’s court

When a major wire transfer was made to “Diana” this week, authorities had all the information they needed to make a move. The raids made in response to the wire transfer lead to the nine arrests, and brought in over 26 pounds of fentanyl, along with other opioids and records that helped authorities track areas in the United States that the drugs were being trafficked to. More than 50 U.S. residents names and addresses were seized from the “Diana Organization’s” records which lead to three major arrests in the U.S., and 25 new cases to be opened here in America (NBC). 

Tensions between China and the United States have been especially on the rise within the past few months as we are currently in the midst of a massive trade war with the country. Because of this, this collaborative effort between both countries authoritative forces is being eagerly showcased in the media, and rightfully so. America has often criticized China on their laid back approach to drug trafficking and has labeled them as “complacent” so when these arrests were made China made sure that Americans knew how big of a deal it was. 

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Yu Haibin (C), deputy director of China National Narcotics Control Commission (ONNCC), speaks during a briefing in Xingtai

So much so that during the court proceedings this week, China invited groups of journalists to come and cover the hearings to ensure that the news would spread quickly and efficiently as the charges were made. Journalists were also invited to attend a news conference covering the case both before and after the hearings, China provided police escorts for all the journalists to and from the conference and court to show that they were serious and organized about this accomplishment. The case was being presented at a court in Xingtai, which is about 220 miles from Beijing. 

According to NBC’s coverage of the event, the nine defendants were made up of five men and four women, all of which were seated in the courtroom during the entire proceedings, but none were allowed to speak. There were three presiding judges, one of which was responsible for reading out all the details of the case, the charges that were being made for each individual, and what their sentences would be. The leader of the entire smuggling ring was sentenced to death after he serves a two year sentence, his charge was “leading a conspiracy to defy Chinese laws to manufacture and smuggle the drug of fentanyl to the United States.”

“Their measures are very covert, our investigators lack chemistry expertise … it’s definitely hard to identify and verify this type of substance,” Liu Zhiyong, the deputy chief of Xingtai Public Security Bureau told NBC News.

Due to the success of this collaborative effort, there are now two more ongoing joint fentanyl investigations occurring between the United States and Chinese authorities. This effort could help bring down some of the biggest international drug trafficking rings.