This undated photo provided by Australian Federal Police shows a suspect of drug possession arrested by police officers in the suburb of Londonderry, 50 km northwest of central Sydney, Australia. Australian authorities have seized 2.7 tonnes of cocaine from a property northwest of Sydney in the largest seizure of the drug in national history. (Australian Federal Police/Handout via Xinhua)
SYDNEY, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Australian authorities have seized 2.7 tonnes of cocaine from a property northwest of Sydney in the largest seizure of the drug in national history.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) said on Monday that investigators located the cocaine while executing a search warrant at a property in the suburb of Londonderry, 50 km northwest of central Sydney, on Friday.
During a search of three shipping containers at the rear of the property, investigators located the cocaine in plastic crates that had been buried in underground bunkers that were concealed by false container floors.
According to authorities, the seized volume of cocaine had an estimated street value of 816 million Australian dollars (571.3 million U.S. dollars) and could have supplied about 3 million street-level deals.
Two men, aged 21 and 25, were arrested and have each been charged with possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The search warrant in Londonderry was carried out following an investigation by the joint organized crime task force in the northeastern state of Queensland that commenced when police found 40 kg of cocaine in water near a boat ramp in May.
Police identified that the cocaine was part of a larger importation dispatched from a mothership in deeper water off the Australian coast and located 178 kg of cocaine and 142 kg of methamphetamine while executing subsequent search warrants.
It will be alleged in court that the cocaine seized from the Londonderry property was part of the same import and was transported to Sydney at the behest of an organized crime group.
The alleged mothership has been detained in the Solomon Islands for further investigation. ■
This undated photo provided by Australian Federal Police shows plastic crates containing cocaine in an underground bunker at a property in the suburb of Londonderry, 50 km northwest of central Sydney, Australia.
Australian authorities have seized 2.7 tonnes of cocaine from a property northwest of Sydney in the largest seizure of the drug in national history. (Australian Federal Police/Handout via Xinhua)
