Five charged after cocaine worth over $623m seized on motorboat off NSW coast
Investigators patiently surveyed the 13 metre long Sea Ray cruiser for six days before launching a coordinated operation on its crew as it headed towards port at South West Rocks at 9:40am on Friday.
Officers will allege they uncovered 1.1 tonnes of cocaine that was distributed into 1036 blocks in what is being described as one of the states largest drug hauls.
Police estimate the drugs have a street value of $623 million and would total over a million individual doses.
Two men, Cooper Hollingworth, 24 from Cardiff and Jacob Malcolm, 26 from Merewether were arrested on board and have both been charged with large commercial drug supply and participating in a criminal group.
According to a police fact sheet, 'Malcolm was located in a wetsuit and Hollingworth was soaking wet as if having been in water.'
At the same time three other men, Chaiwat Thipsing, 28, Luke Hazell, 29 and Rodney James Hill, 35 were arrested onshore after officers stopped two vehicles attempting to flee the South West Rocks region.
The three men were taken to Taree police station and charged with taking part in the large commercial supply of cocaine and participating in a criminal group.
Police will allege the two men arrested on board were the 'catching crew' responsible for the transportation of the drugs while the other members were allegedly the 'onshore co-orinators'.
Searches of Newcastle properties by Strike Force investigators and the AFP also led to the seizure of electronic devices, documents, cash, clothing and communication devices.
All five men appeared at Parramatta bail court on Saturday and were refused bail after their lawyers told the court their clients would not be making a release application.
Police confirmed all five men involved were Australian citizens and reside in the Greater Newcastle Area.
The men are due to reappear at Coffs Harbour local court on July 15.
Detectives said they were alerted to the plot after receiving an anonymous tip regarding a $500,000 purchase of a 13-metre-long motor cruiser boat in Sydney's Sutherland Shire on April 28.
Police said they tracked the vessel as it travelled north along the NSW coast to Nelson Bay, Port Macquarie and South West Rocks and surveilled the movements and communications of those involved with the suspicious purchase.
The major drug sting was a joint operation between NSW Police and the Australian Federal Police, with AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dametto describing the incident as a 'sophisticated criminal plot'.
"Allegedly collecting hundreds of kilograms of cocaine at sea shows the length organised crime will go to for their own greed and profit," he said.
"Australia's vast coastline is attractive to organised crime groups, who attempt to exploit this by trying to import drugs using boats.
NSW Police State Crime Commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner Jason Weinstein lauded the co-ordinated response and said the arrests displayed how rapidly authorities could act to prevent large quantities of illegal drugs from reaching New South Wales.
'Whether on land or sea, NSW Police have the investigative capability to disrupt and undermine criminal enterprise,' Commissioner Weinstein said.
'Make no mistake, these drugs, if allowed to enter our communities, would have had devastating impacts on people's lives and social cohesion, particularly in regional townships,' he said.
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