Police arrest ‘trusted insiders’ within the act of allegedly importing 500kg of cocaine

Three “trusted insiders” have been charged after trying to carry greater than half a tonne of cocaine into Sydney.

A joint-agency taskforce picked up the trio after a cargo with legit cargo masking the trove of medication was delivered on Sunday.

Police stated when the seemingly empty transport container was searched, officers discovered 506 kilograms of cocaine.

Detectives imagine the haul has a road worth of $164 million.

A 38-year-old forklift driver from Hillsdale is alleged to have been noticed transferring containers round on a Sydney dock to entry the drug-loaded cargo simply after midnight on Sunday.

Police stated one other one of many males, a 25-year-old dock employee from Oyster Bay, was arrested as he left the transport container containing the medicine.

Inside, detectives allege, they situated a collection of instruments the trio used to take away the medicine from a false wall within the transport container.

A short while later, as officers had been seizing the packaged blocks of cocaine, the 38-year-old man returned to the container and was arrested.

While the container holding the medicine arrived from Europe, police are nonetheless investigating the nation of origin of the medicine.

Around the identical time as officers situated the medicine, one other man was arrested leaving the 38-year-old man’s dwelling as police had been about to raid it.

The 42-year-old from Caringbah can be a forklift driver for a logistics firm and was allegedly discovered with $200,000 when police searched him.

Officers additionally situated one other $130,000,  which they allege is the proceeds of crime, whereas looking one other property linked to one of many males.

Focus of ‘trusted insiders’

The investigation started in April 2025, police stated, when Strike Force Paiporta was shaped to focus on drug gangs utilizing port employees facilitating the import of medication.

The investigation got here beneath the Multi Agency Strike Team (MAST), which incorporates 41 officers from the Australian Federal Police, the NSW Police, the NSW and Australian Crime Commissions and the Australian Tax Office.

Their focus is what they describe as “trusted insiders”, which might vary from port employees to customs officers.

The similar taskforce lately charged a Border Force worker over their alleged position in drug importations.

Police stated intelligence led them to imagine that the group had been allegedly planning to take away a cargo of medication whereas it was saved at a sea freight facility in Sydney.

“Transnational serious organised crime groups routinely seek to exploit vulnerabilities at Australia’s gateways to the world,” AFP Superintendent Peter Fogarty stated.

“And the AFP, alongside our partners, are committed to exposing these syndicates and bringing them before the courts.

“We will allege this syndicate was disciplined however was no match for the capabilities and tenacity of the MAST and its investigators,” he stated.

Since it was formed, MAST has focused on what police have described as “doorways” used by transnational crime gangs to import drugs into Australia.

The 38-year-old and the 25-year-old men were charged with importing a commercial quantity of drugs and proceeds of crime offences.

The 42-year-old man was charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime.

The drugs charge carries a maximum sentence of life in jail, if convicted.

The three males appeared in Sutherland Local Court on Monday, and can face courtroom once more subsequent month.