A superyacht tour operator accused of playing a major role in an alleged $20million cocaine smuggling operation once lived a jetsetting life, featured in a TV commercial and auditioned for Survivor.
James Blake Blee, 62, was arrested at Cairns Airport in North Queensland on Wednesday with police swooping as he allegedly tried to leave the country on a flight to Singapore.
Detectives launched an interstate taskforce after a drug smuggling operation went tragically wrong in Newcastle, NSW, on Monday.
A diver – wearing sophisticated breathing gear which disguised his movements and hid any tell-tale trail of bubbles from his scuba gear – was found dying in the water.
He had been trying to recover a $20million drug haul hidden in a ship’s hull and was found surrounded by large floating bricks of cocaine wrapped in yellow plastic.
Police dive teams found a further 54kg of the drug in the underwater sea chest inside the hull of the Argentinean cargo ship which had arrived in Newcastle on Sunday evening.
Now detectives suspect it may be linked to a similar ‘spectacular’ 179kg cocaine discovery found floating in the ocean off Indonesia at the weekend.
Superyacht tour operator Jimmy Blee, accused of playing a major role in an alleged $20million cocaine smuggling operation once lived a jetsetting life, featured in a TV commercial and auditioned for Survivor
Above is a Daily Mail Australia graphic of what is known about the botched scuba diving operation. Mr Blee has been arrested in connection to the incident
Blee is set to be extradited to NSW on Friday to face charges of importing a large commercial quantity of border controlled drug and large commercial drug supply.
Jimmy Blee offered charter trips around remote parts of Indonesia on board the spectacular sail boat, Amandira
He is the father of three teenage children, with an Indonesian wife, and ran luxury yachting, fishing and diving tours around Indonesia, North Queensland and the Whitsundays.
Blee also offered a consultancy service to yacht owners and operators who flew in for dream trips around Australia’s coast and over to Indonesia and south-east Asia.
In recent years, Blee bragged about his jetset lifestyle which saw him join friends at a villa near Nice for the Monaco Yacht Show.
He also took his son – who was a production assistant on a TV show, Dive Club, in 2021 – to London.
Blee also flew his fashion designer wife to Milan Fashion Week, with plans for an audience with the Pope, followed by a trip to the US.
Blee even auditioned for Australian Survivor, joking that he lived in his backyard for 10 days on a diet of worms and rainwater, and appeared in a TV ad for an Indonesian paint firm.
After Covid hit, he and his family returned to Australia.
The father of three teenage children, who has an Indonesian wife, ran luxury yachting, fishing and diving tours around Indonesia, North Queensland and the Whitsundays
Jimmy Blee also offered a consultancy service to yacht owners and operators who flew in for dream trips around Australia’s coast and over to Indonesia and south-east Asia
James Blee’s arrest followed the death of a diver who was trying to recover $20 million of cocaine from the hull of a ship in Newcastle
In a podcast, Blee revealed how he and a mate spent much of the pandemic going on long fishing and cruising expeditions around the North Queensland coast to research new tour routes.
He also hoped to persuade Australian cruise trip holidaymakers to chip in with their mates to charter superyachts instead of waiting for cruise ships to resume.
‘2020 for me was was a real cathartic time where, after being in Asia for so long, I was able to sort of sit back and reflect,’ he said in the Superyacht Radio podcast.
‘Once post-covid really does start to kick in, I’m pretty sure we’re going to see some adventures – pretty exciting times for everyone.
‘If you want serious adventure, (North Queensland) is the place to do it.’
Blee was due to appear in Cairns Magistrates Court on Thursday on drug smuggling charges before being extradited to New South Wales on Friday.
A police spokesman added: ‘Inquiries under Strike Force Groove are ongoing.’
James Blee was due to appear in Cairns Magistrates Court on Thursday on drug smuggling charges before being extradited to New South Wales on Friday
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