Thursday, March 28, 2024

Three arrested south of Moore River during big drug bust

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An international covert operation – including the arrest of three people on the beach south of Moore River – has prevented a record 2.4 tonnes of cocaine from entering Western Australia, according to WA Police.

The operation, dubbed Operation Beech, resulted in the arrest of 12 people, with the cocaine linked to a Mexican drug cartel.

WA Police said Operation Beech started in November after 2.4 tonnes of cocaine destined for Australia was intercepted by the Sydney office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) off the South American coastline.

Intelligence suggested the drug traffickers were unaware of the seizure of the 2.4 tonnes of cocaine and a WA Police spokesman said the traffickers held the belief about 1.2 tonnes of the drug was on its way to a drop off point in Western Australia.

This meant the Australian arm of the syndicate continued to prepare to receive their shipment on about December 28 last year.

This provided an opportunity for WA Police to substitute the cargo using an inert substance and packaging identical to that used by the cartel.

In a statement WA Police said the inert substance was dropped about 40 nautical miles west of the Perth coastline on December 28.

Police will allege that the shore party, utilising two boats, (Catalina and Cool Runnings) made multiple efforts to locate and retrieve the cargo.

Also police will allege that between December 28 and December 30, the syndicate’s shore party made three trips out to sea in uncomfortable conditions because they could not find the cargo.

On December 30 tactical response group officers arrested three members of the shore party from Cool Runnings, which had about 1.2 tonnes of the inert substance onboard.

Cool Runnings had steering issues and washed up on the beach south of Moore River, 70km north of Perth.

It will also be alleged other members of the shore party onboard the Catalina, then retrieved Cool Runnings and towed it out to sea, where they transferred the inert substance onto the Catalina before it sank.

On December 31 search warrants were executed across the metropolitan area.

In total, nine men were charged with attempting to possess 1.2 tonnes of cocaine.

The operation continued after the New Year’s Eve arrests with the syndicate still of the belief 1.2 tonnes of cocaine were available for purchase.

On January 9 tactical response group officers raided a Carlisle property and arrested a 28-year-old New South Wales man who has been charged with attempting to possess 200kg of cocaine.

Intelligence received from the ACIC led police to stop a vehicle on the Great Eastern Hwy, near Coolgardie, on January 13.

Officers located more than $2 million cash and charged a 39-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman allegedly connected to the syndicate.

WA Police commissioner Col Blanch said it was a complex operation involving dozens of specialist officers and detectives resulting in the seizure of an estimated $1 billion worth of cocaine and the disruption of criminal networks.

“This operation has enabled us to draw out those members of the syndicate who were equipped and prepared to receive and distribute a significant amount of illicit drugs within the community, who may have otherwise gone undetected and waited for the next consignment,’’ he said.

“Our objective is to identify and apprehend those responsible for sending the drugs, but also those onshore criminal syndicates set to receive and profit through distribution in our community.

“The operation sends a message to international drug traffickers – your deadly drugs are not welcome here and we will work closely and innovatively with our on shore and off shore law enforcement partners to dismantle your operations.

“The WA Police Force TSOC squad are continuing this investigation with offshore partners to identify and prosecute those responsible for organising this shipment.

“We want drug traffickers to actively avoid trying to use our coastline as an entry point.”

The 12 accused, some of whom are from America, New South Wales and the Northern Territory, are progressing through WA’s courts.

The investigation was a joint effort between WA Police transnational serious and organised crime squad (TSOC) and the Sydney office of the DEA with assistance from other state policing jurisdictions.

This article appeared on Yanchep News Online on 4 March 2023.

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