Australia has made its largest cocaine haul ever after seizing a yacht carrying 1.4 tonnes of the drug with an estimated street value of Aus$312 million (US$239 million).
The boat was stopped off the New South Wales coast on February 2 and six men were arrested, police said Monday, following a two-and-a-half year joint investigation between Australia and New Zealand.
"This is the largest cocaine haul ever seized in a single operation in Australia’s history," said Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.
Police allege the yacht sailed from New Zealand to a "mothership" in the South Pacific to pick up the drugs last month.Australia seizes record 1.4 tonne of cocaine https://t.co/hZanG1W7KG pic.twitter.com/9So9z8Eqkr
— Reuters TV (@ReutersTV) February 6, 2017
That was previously the largest haul of its kind, with the sting netting 1.1 tonnes of the drug in Tahiti and Sydney worth hundreds of millions of dollars, all destined for Australia.Border Force and Police have made Australia's biggest ever cocaine bust worth more than $300 million #7News https://t.co/krLzMaPsUl
— 7 News Queensland (@7NewsQueensland) February 6, 2017