This old runabout at Palm Beach had $54m of drugs aboard

Drugs, crims and boats seem to go hand in glove and we've reported in the past on some serious cocaine busts aboard yachts sailing in the South Pacific, especially under the guise of cruising rallies. For example, you can read about this
Gold Coast drug bust of a yacht with 70kg of cocaine worth $17.5m aboard.

But now it seems the old fishing boat is the preferred conveyance and methamphetamine from China is the drug of choice. The small runabout pictured above at Palm Beach north of Sydney might just look like an everyday rundown fishing boat, but looks can be deceiving!

A large-scale joint Australia and China operation has just resulted in the seizure of approximately 90 litres of liquid methamphetamine on the northern Sydney beach and a fishing vessel has been intercepted off the Queensland coast, with eight people arrested for their alleged roles in the importation venture.

The joint Australian Federal Police and China National Narcotics Control Commission operation began earlier in November, 2016, following intelligence generated by the joint Australian-Chinese law enforcement partnership known as Taskforce Blaze.

As a result of the intelligence, a vessel of interest was identified off the coast of NSW in early November. The vessel was monitored by the Australian Border Force (ABF) with the support of the ABF’s Maritime Border Command (MBC), a multi-agency task force responsible for leading Australia’s civil maritime security operations.

In the early hours of the Friday morning (November 11, 2016) that a smaller tender launched from this vessel with three men onboard. With the assistance of the NSW Police Force Marine Area Command, the AFP monitored its arrival at Palm Beach on Sydney’s northern beaches, where it was met by another two male persons.

All five men were arrested and a search warrant was executed. Three barrels were located on board containing a substance believed to be liquid methamphetamine, with a total volume of approximately 90 litres.

A seizure of this amount has an estimated street value of $54 million. Further forensic testing will be conducted to determine the exact weight and purity of the substance.

The men arrested include a 47-year-old, a 49-year-old, and a 58-year-old from China. A 29-year-old from New Zealand and a 56-year-old from Taiwan were arrested as they met the vessel onshore.

All five have appeared before Sydney’s Central Local Court  charged with the importation and possession of a commercial quantity of a border controlled drugs. Bail was refused for all five men.

Following these arrests, on Sunday morning (November 13, 2016), HMAS Newcastle, operating under the control of the MBC, intercepted the mothership off the coast of Hervey Bay, Queensland.

HMAS Newcastle is no stranger to at-sea drug busts and was involved in the seizure of more than  $800 million in narcotics on operations in the Middle East last year (last photo above).

Back in SE Queensland on this bust, the three-member crew was detained and transferred to HMAS Newcastle, comprising a 23-year-old, a 51-year-old, and a 56-year-old from China. All three were conveyed to Sydney and were arrested by the AFP and a search warrant executed on the vessel.

Two of the crew have now appeared before Sydney’s Central Local Court and the third appeared this morning, charged with aiding and abetting the importation of a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug. Bail was refused for all three crew members.

AFP Acting Assistant Commissioner Chris Sheehan, National Manager Crime Operations, said the seizure demonstrates the effectiveness of cooperation with Australia’s Chinese partners, which provided information to begin this operation.

Commander MBC, Rear Admiral Peter Laver, also praised the close collaboration between Australian and Chinese law enforcement agencies and the Australian Defence Force which was critical to the success of this operation.

"MBC is committed to working with Australian law enforcement agencies and like-minded international partners to respond to illegal activity in Australia’s maritime domain," Rear Admiral Laver said.

Sailors thinking of bringing drugs into the country, think again. The authorities are monitoring all shipping and boating movements along our vast coastline and surveillance work is stepping up.

You can read more about Maritime Border Command, the real Sea Patrol if you like, at