SYDNEY — Four men have been charged after police recovered about 525 kilograms of cocaine floating in the ocean off the coast of Western Australia earlier this month, authorities said.
The packages, tied to flotation drums, were spotted by members of the public on November 6 roughly 30 kilometers offshore. Western Australia Police and the Australian Federal Police later retrieved the bundles, which they valued at more than A$170 million.
Investigators traced the drop to an international livestock carrier that was en route to Fremantle. On November 7, a 46-year-old Croatian national serving as the ship’s chief officer was arrested and charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. Police alleged he oversaw the release of the cocaine into the sea.
Authorities said the vessel showed signs of suspicious modifications, including railings that had been removed and reinstalled without proper permits and a CCTV camera that had been covered at the time of the alleged drug drop.
Three other men — a 52-year-old from Perth and a 19-year-old and a 36-year-old from Sydney — were also arrested for allegedly attempting to retrieve the cocaine from the water.
Investigations by the WA Joint Organised Crime Taskforce are ongoing. Authorities said the case highlights continued efforts by drug trafficking groups to use offshore drop-offs to evade border controls. (Xinhua)