Huge haul of cocaine is seized from a container ship in Western Australia
- About 900kg of cocaine seized at Kwinana, WA
- AFP, Border Force and WA Police made the bust
- It was the third huge cocaine capture in WA recently
One of Australia’s biggest ever drug busts has been made on board a container ship from South America.
Approximately 900kg of cocaine was found on the bulk carrier, St Pinot, by three law enforcement agencies at the Kwinana Bulk Terminal in Western Australia.
The drugs, believed to have come from South America are estimated to have a street value of at least $375million.
The seizure was the result of a joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force and WA Police.
It is the third major cocaine seizure made in WA in recent months.
Officers from the AFP, Border Force and WA Police were present when the St Pinot, sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands, was searched leading to the seizure of 900kg of cocaine
The St Pinot left the port of San Lorenzo, in Argentina on April 16 before stopping at Petrobras and La Plata, also in the South American nation, before reaching Fremantle five weeks later
Officers from all three agencies were present when the ship, sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands, was searched.
Footage of the police operation showed Australian law enforcement agents being lowered inside the haul of the carrier to conduct their search.
‘The AFP, Australian Border Force (ABF) and WA Police Force are searching a cargo vessel as part of an ongoing operation,’ an AFP spokesperson confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday evening.
The St Pinot left the port of San Lorenzo, in Argentina on April 16 before stopping at Petrobras and La Plata, also in the South American nation.
It took just over five weeks to reach Fremantle before sailing south to Kwinana.
It is not known whether any arrests have been made yet in connection with the seizure.
It is the third industrial-scale cocaine capture by Australian authorities in WA in recent times.
In March, Australian police thwarted an attempt by a Mexican cartel to bring 2.4tonnes of cocaine worth $1billion into the country.
US authorities intercepted the shipment off the South American coast in late November and alerted WA Police.
The record haul was linked back to one of Mexico’s oldest and most violent criminal organisations, the notorious Gulf Cartel, also known as the Cartel del Golfo.
The covert international operation saw police drop a fake shipment of cocaine about 40 nautical miles west of Perth, where a shore party allegedly made multiple efforts to locate and retrieve it leading to their arrests
Australian authorities switched the drugs with fake packages filled with plaster-of-paris before then dropping them off in the ocean 80 kilometres off the coast of WA.
A shore party then allegedly made multiple efforts to locate and retrieve it – as police kept a close watch.
Police arrested 12 people in connection with the bust.
In February a 330kg cocaine seizure was made off the coast of Albany when an upturned boat carrying the drugs washed ashore.
The AFP arrested three people in connection with the incident.
