A 51-year-old Queensland man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for collecting about 560kg of cocaine from the ocean off Western Australia’s Mid-West region in 2023. He must serve at least 13 years and 10 months before being eligible for parole.
The man is the second person to be jailed over the botched smuggling attempt, in which the cocaine was allegedly dropped from a bulk cargo carrier off Kalbarri, about 580km north of Perth. Another Queensland man, 34, received the same sentence in August 2024, with a slightly longer non-parole period of 14 years.
The pair were arrested in Kalbarri on 11 August 2023 after Australian Federal Police (AFP), Border Force, WA Police and the Department of Home Affairs tracked their movements and intercepted them unloading plastic-wrapped bundles of cocaine from a seven-metre boat into their rental accommodation.
Forensic testing confirmed the cocaine’s purity exceeded 86 per cent, amounting to about 488kg of pure product—equivalent to 2.8 million street-level deals worth an estimated $182 million.
AFP Inspector Chris Colley said the joint operation stopped a major drug syndicate from flooding the Australian market. “This amount of cocaine could have been broken down into about 2.8 million individual deals … instead, the offenders will both be spending years in a jail cell,” he said.
Investigators found the men had been promised $300,000 for their role. The courts also ordered the forfeiture of their boat, four-wheel-drive and nearly $5000 cash.
Four other Queensland men are still before the WA courts over their alleged involvement in the trafficking plot.
Support our Journalism
No-nonsense journalism. No paywalls. Whether you’re in Australia, the UK, Canada, the USA, or India, you can support The Australia Today by taking a paid subscription via Patreon or donating via PayPal — and help keep honest, fearless journalism alive.
