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CrimeAustralia

Drug bust stops 2.4 tons of cocaine bound for Australia

March 4, 2023

The cocaine was equivalent to half of Australia's estimated annual consumption, and 12 suspects have been arrested. The seizure is one of the biggest that Australian police have been involved in.

https://p.dw.com/p/4OFrG
Stock image showing a hand using a credit card to manipulate a white powder like cocaine.
Australian police substituted the real cocaine with fake drugs to catch the suspectsImage: Sabine Thielemann/PantherMedia/IMAGO

A joint Australian and Unites States law enforcement operation busted an international drug ring and stopped 2.4 metric tons of cocaine, worth roughly A$1 billion (roughly $675 million, or €635 million), from reaching Western Australia.

"Operation Beech" has led to the arrest of 12 people with alleged links to a Mexican drug cartel, Western Australia Police said in a statement on Saturday.

The drugs seized during the operation "represents more than half the annual consumption of cocaine in Australia as a whole, that is significant in itself," Detective Inspector Jeff Beros said in a video released on Facebook disclosing details of the bust.

"The operation sends a message to international drug traffickers — your deadly drugs are not welcome here," Western Australia police commissioner Col Blanch said.

Covert police operation

The operation started in November when US Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized 2.4 tons of cocaine aboard a vessel off the South American Coast destined for Australia.

The alleged drug traffickers were unaware of the seizure and Western Australian police then substituted the cargo for fake cocaine and dropped it in the ocean off Perth in late December.

Three suspected members of the "Australian arm of a drug syndicate" used two boats, called "Catalina" and "Cool Runnings," to make several attempts to find and retrieve the cargo before they were arrested.

A further nine arrests were made on New Year's Eve and in January.

Police stopped a vehicle on the Great Eastern Highway near Coolgardie, more than 550 kilometers (roughly 350 miles) east of Perth, and found more than A$2 million in cash.

All the cases are currently being heard in Western Australian courts.

lo/msh (Reuters, Western Australia Police)