BORDER Force and police are celebrating the convictions of three would-be drug importers operating in Western Australian waters two years ago while recording a successful drug-related arrest in South Australia.
In the first case, three men who sank a drug-filled luxury sports cruiser off the WA coast in 2023 have been sentenced to a combined 29 years and six months’ jail for their roles in the botched plot to import more than 300kg of cocaine into the state.
The WA men, aged 38, 47 and 51, each pleaded guilty to one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug contrary to Commonwealth law. The 38-year-old was sentenced to nine years and three months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of six years. The 47-year-old was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of five years. The 51-year-old was sentenced to 12 years and three months’ jail with a non-parole period of eight years. They were each sentenced in the Perth District Court on 22 October.
The investigation began in early February 2023, when WA police officers helped rescue the men from the ocean off Albany. Police became suspicious when the trio claimed their vessel had capsized during a fishing trip, with officers then alerting the AFP. Operation Ayr then commenced.
Almost a week later, a plastic-wrapped package containing multiple smaller packages of cocaine washed ashore near Denmark, about 55km west of Albany, before a seven-metre sports cruiser named Aces and Eights was found overturned off Peaceful Bay, about 45km west of Denmark, on 8 February, 2023.
AFP officers executed a search warrant on the cruiser and seized 273 packages containing about 274kg of a white substance. Forensic testing confirmed the total pure weight of the cocaine found inside the vessel to be 229.17kg. Police believe the drugs had been collected from the ocean before the vessel capsized in rough waters on their way back to shore.
Meanwhile, the AFP has charged a woman from Prospect, South Australia over her alleged role in a failed 62kg cocaine importation, after the drugs were found inside mechanical equipment.
The woman, 30, was charged on Monday (21 October) and released on police bail. She is expected to appear before Adelaide Magistrates Court on 9 January 2026.
An investigation began in February, after ABF officers in Port Botany intercepted a consignment from Germany addressed to a business in Adelaide.
ABF officers found 62 individually wrapped packages of powder, each weighing about 1kg, hidden in the cavity of a mechanical wheel-balancing machine.
Presumptive testing of the powder returned a positive result for cocaine and ABF officers referred the matter to the AFP for further investigation.
On 24 February 2025, the AFP executed a search warrant at a business premises in Kensington Park, SA, where they seized electronic devices. As a result of further investigations, the AFP charged the woman on Monday [21 October] over her alleged involvement in the importation.
She has been charged with one count of importation of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, one count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, and failure to comply with a “3LA order” under the 1914 Crimes Act which requires individuals suspected of crimes to provide information necessary to access data on computers.
Illicit drugs are also dogging the Maritime Union of Australia this week. MUA Queensland secretary Jason Miners has quit, pre-empting allegations of neglect of duty following reports of his alleged drug use and long absences over the past 18 months, according to the Australian Financial Review. Mr Miners advised colleagues he had resigned from his $170,000 a year position on Wednesday after more than a decade working with the union.