Australian authorities have disrupted a sophisticated cocaine smuggling operation involving marine diesel engines, charging a Sydney man with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of illicit drugs. This case highlights the evolving maritime tactics used by traffickers to bypass border enforcement.
In October 2024, Australian Border Force (ABF) officers examined a shipment arriving from the United States at the Port of Brisbane. The consignment included two aged and used marine engines, each packed in crates. Upon inspection, officials discovered plastic-wrapped packages hidden inside the crankcases, wedged between crankshaft lobes and coated in grease. Laboratory tests later confirmed the presence of cocaine.
Authorities removed approximately 140 kilograms of cocaine, substituted the packages with replicas, and allowed the delivery to proceed under surveillance. The shipment was transported in mid-November to a property in Wongawallan, about 40 kilometers south of Brisbane.
On November 15, two individuals—one of them from Sydney—were observed retrieving some of the fake bricks concealed in one of the engines. Just two days later, on November 17, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) executed a series of raids and seized evidence connecting the suspects to the smuggling attempt.
The man from Sydney has been formally charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of cocaine, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment under Australian law.
“This amount of cocaine could have equated to about 700,000 street-level deals,” noted AFP Detective Superintendent Adrian Telfer. “Criminals are motivated by greed and are indifferent to the harm their actions cause. The AFP and our partners remain committed to dismantling these networks.”
This marks the second arrest linked to the scheme. In April, another suspect from the Gold Coast was charged in relation to the same smuggling operation, allegedly having participated in the attempted recovery of the fake cocaine packages.
As traffickers continue to exploit maritime transport for drug distribution, law enforcement agencies are adapting their methods to intercept these increasingly creative concealment strategies.
