Three men to front court after NSW Police foil alleged plot to import $485 million of cocaine
Three men have been charged over an alleged plot to smuggle more than a tonne of cocaine into New South Wales worth close to half a billion dollars.
Police said the trio arrested on Thursday each stood to earn $3.4 million over their alleged roles in conspiring to import 1.5 tonnes of the drug into the state.
The men, police alleged, conspired to act as a "catching crew" for shipments of drugs dumped offshore by a bigger cargo vessel.
Police said the men from the Hunter region — aged 23, 24 and 34 — were originally on their radar for "behaving suspiciously" by using cash to buy two fishing boats.
One of those boats, called Seas the Day, is now in possession of police who seized it from Lemon Tree Passage on Thursday.
The Organised Crime Squad has spent years investigating drug shipments off the NSW east coast, which has become a popular route for crime gangs bringing cocaine into Sydney.
According to recent calculations by the Australian Federal Police in an unrelated seizure, the haul of drugs had an estimated street value of $485 million.
Dramatic vision released by police showed the moment officers in tactical gear cornered the car of one of the men on a suburban street in Eleebana, Lake Macquarie.
In it, a number of officers and the dog squad can be seen pulling the 34-year-old man from a car before bringing him to the ground and handcuffing him about 5am on Thursday.
That same day the 23-year-old was arrested at a worksite in Forster and the 24-year-old was arrested in Salamander Bay.
All three have been charged with conspiracy to supply a commercial quantity of cocaine, which carries a maximum penalty of life in jail if convicted.
The men were refused bail and are expected to front Parramatta Local Court on Friday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
24 minutes ago
- ABC News
Burgertory boss Hash Tayeh hit with $1m tax bill over company debts
The boss of Victorian fast-food chain Burgertory has been hit with a $1 million tax bill for debts allegedly run up by 12 companies where he was formerly a director. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued notices holding Melbourne businessman Hash Tayeh personally liable for the debts. It launched legal action in the County Court in February seeking to recover the money from him. In documents filed with the court the ATO alleged the companies had not paid the full amount they owed in withholding tax on employee wages, GST and superannuation contributions at various times while Mr Tayeh was a director between October 2020 and March last year. Tax law allows the ATO to issue people who run companies with director penalty notices holding them personally liable for tax debts run up by the business while they were at the helm. In a string of cases lodged with the Federal Court in April and May, the ATO has also applied to have all but one of the same dozen companies wound up over their tax debts. The court appointed a liquidator to one of the companies, Box Hill BRG, earlier this month, but the remaining cases have yet to be decided. Speaking to the ABC Mr Tayeh accused the Australian Tax Office of "harassment" and told the ABC most of the companies were owned and directed by other people who were Burgertory licensees. "This is not a tax issue, it's a campaign of targeted harassment against me," he said. "Burgertory is still growing and we are about to announce our expansion to the Philippines in the coming days." He said he was unaware of the County Court lawsuit until contacted by the ABC but had received the director penalty notices that made him liable for the debts and that they were with his lawyer. Mr Tayeh is Palestinian and has been a prominent member of the pro-Palestinian movement in Melbourne. He is facing a separate legal battle over his activism. In March, he was charged with using insulting words in public for allegedly stating "all Zionists are terrorists" at a rally in Melbourne's CBD last year. The businessman is fighting the charges, which are punishable by up to two months in prison, and told the ABC they were "baseless". Mr Tayeh's property has also been damaged in two arson attacks. A petrol bomb damaged the front door of his Templestowe Lower house in April last year, while his Caulfield North outlet was destroyed in a deliberately lit fire in November 2023. The ATO declined to comment.
ABC News
39 minutes ago
- ABC News
CCC report finds Brent Wyndham, police officer who fatally shot JC, lied about on-duty car crash
The Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) has recommended a former Geraldton police officer, who fatally shot an Indigenous woman in 2019, be prosecuted for wrongfully ramming a police car into a vehicle and lying in official documents. Released on Friday, the report found multiple Geraldton police officers committed serious misconduct last year, including Brent Wyndham, who killed a 29-year-old woman, known as JC for cultural reasons, in September 2019. He was eventually charged with murder over the death, but was acquitted after a Supreme Court trial in 2021 on the grounds of self-defence. A two-week coronial inquest last year examined the actions of the eight officers at the scene of the shooting. He resigned from the force earlier this year. In the CCC report released today, it was revealed that in May 2024, Mr Wyndham and two other officers, constables Alex Miatke and Kasey Hodge, went to investigate a "distinctive" Commodore car believed to be connected to recent crimes. The commission said Mr Wyndham drove the unmarked police car, though Constable Hodge had higher driving qualification, to the vehicle of interest, which was parked near the Geraldton Softball Association. The report said the Commodore slowly started to drive away and Mr Wyndham quickly swung the steering wheel and rammed into the car, but it kept moving. The report said the police car was slightly damaged, and protocol required Mr Wyndham to stay at the scene until an independent sergeant arrived. Instead, he activated the damaged car's lights and sirens and pursued the Commodore, which was driving on the wrong side of the road. The report stated the police car then hit the back of the car in question, causing it to hit a lamppost and stop. The CCC report said the incident lasted just over one minute. The driver was arrested and later released after questioning at the Geraldton Police Sation. When the incident was examined, Mr Wyndham justified his driving actions by claiming the Commodore deliberately hit the unmarked police vehicle. "He [the Commodore driver] rammed us first, 100 per cent," the report quoted. But body-worn camera footage and CCTV from the investigation showed Mr Wyndham was responsible for the first crash. WA's CCC chief John McKechnie said the precision intercept technique (PIT) Mr Wyndham used is only permitted in exceptional circumstances not justified by the incident. "It was a low-speed collision The airbags were not activated. Both cars were drivable thereafter," he said. He said it could be acceptable to use a PIT manoeuvre if bystanders were in danger, but there was no one around until after the crash occurred. The report found Mr Wyndham lied in multiple official documents, including his witness statement, claiming there were children nearby at the time. He later backtracked to say there was one short man on the street. The report found Constable Miatke made similar false claims in a memorandum and witness statement. When giving evidence for the investigation, Mr Wyndham continued to claim the Commodore hit the police car in the carpark, and there were people around when he later rammed the vehicle. "His justification was the alleged ramming by the Commodore and subsequently the presence of civilians in harm's way," the CCC report said. The report concluded Mr Wyndham committed serious misconduct, which Mr McKechnie said was the highest form of misconduct the commission can give. The CCC also recommended the Police Commissioner consider prosecuting Mr Wyndham for perverting the course of justice. "The seriousness of [senior constable] Wyndham's conduct cannot be overstated," the report said. The CCC suggested Constable Miatke committed police misconduct. Mr McKechnie acknowledged Geraldton police faced a heavy workload at the time which "didn't help". "But in the end, corners can't be cut," he said. "Even if there is pressure."
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Police muster cattle in fraud investigation over stolen wagyu embryos
The police rural crime team mustered more than 500 cattle on the NSW north coast as part of an investigation into stolen wagyu cows. Police have arrested a 34 year old man, alleged to have stolen purebred embryos and semen from his employer. Supplied: NSW Police Media
