Three men are arrested over alleged plot to import three tonnes of cocaine worth $900MILLION into Australia after an elaborate international sting operation
- Three men arrested and charged over alleged plot to import cocaine into NSW
- Men – aged 37, 42 and 58 – were allegedly part of organised criminal syndicate
- The potential street value of the three tonnes of cocaine is $900 million
Three men have been arrested over an alleged plot to import three tonnes of cocaine into NSW.
Officers from Strike Force Jillabenan said the men were part of a organised criminal syndicate engaged in a conspiracy to supply cocaine with a potential street value of $900 million.
Police began investigating in early 2020, after detectives from the State Crime Command’s Organised Crime Squad received information about a person said to be gambling a significant amount of money at a casino.
Those inquiries resulted in the establishment of Strike Force Jillabenan to investigate the large-scale supply of prohibited drugs – mainly cocaine – across NSW.
Police arresting one of the men (pictured right) after they uncovered a plot to import three tonnes of cocaine into NSW
The haul was significant, with the seizure of cocaine (pictured) said to have a street value of $900 million
Police arrested a number of men (pictured) in raids on a series of addresses in Sydney as well as Newcastle
Two vessels were stopped by law enfocement in different operations off the coast of South America (pictured)
Three men – aged 37, 42 and 58 -were arrested on Thursday, June 3 and charged over their alleged roles in the conspiracy.
Shortly after the arrests, the Organised Crime Squad executed five search warrants at homes at Mortdale, Regents Park, Rockdale and Sans Souci in Sydney’s south as well as Paddington in Sydney’s east.
NSW Police said they had co-operated with the US Drug Enforcement Administration as part of its investigations and seized a total of 1770kg of cocaine during two separate interdictions off the coast of South America.
All three men were charged and refused bail to appear at local courts on Friday.