Australian police intercepted 100kg of cocaine, smuggled via a plane from South Africa, during the first week of October 2023. This follows a similar takedown in 2019, where two drug traffickers were arrested in Australia for attempting to smuggle cocaine into the country in passenger planes from South Africa. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has confirmed that the principal organiser of the syndicate is associated with an organised crime group of significant interest to Australia, which had extensive links to overseas-based entities.
The syndicate had been monitored for roughly 12 months, and there are still ongoing investigations regarding the South African end. The AFP has a member in Pretoria to liaise with local authorities to further that investigation. South African leaders may be aware of the Australian takedown and may be looking into the South African side of the syndicate.
The cocaine was intercepted in Australia on Saturday, 7 October, and five suspects were arrested. The haul is worth approximately 40 million Australian dollars, or roughly R489 million. Daily Maverick has previously reported on cocaine trafficking channels between South Africa and Australia. Global drug smugglers operating via South Africa increasingly used maritime routes and favouring the Port of Durban.
The AFP said its recent takedown of suspected traffickers was carried out after a year-long project codenamed Operation Lucian. The operation was launched in October 2022 “following a report from an airline of suspicious activity that occurred near the cargo area of a Sydney-bound flight in Johannesburg”. The five suspects arrested on Saturday appeared in a court in Parramatta, a Sydney suburb, the following day and were remanded in custody until 30 November.
The AFP statement said a 42-year-old man from Padstow, a city southwest of Sydney’s central business hub, was allegedly “the primary Australian facilitator of this endeavour, liaising with organised figures overseas to source the cocaine, have it placed on an aircraft and then arrange for its onward distribution in Australia”. Another man, aged 62, from the Australian suburb of Hillsdale, allegedly coordinated the activities of two men working at the airport to facilitate the removal of the cocaine from the aircraft and deliver it to an associate of the Padstow man.
Cops in Australia believed the intercepted cocaine could have been divided and sold via 100,000 street deals. The AFP’s Kristie Cressy stated that transnational serious organised crime groups actively try to corrupt people working at our airports because their access to airside operations is an active and efficient way to facilitate the importation of illicit drugs.
The arrests in Australia a few days ago are not the first time suspects have been detained there and accused of smuggling cocaine from South Africa via planes. A 2020 New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal judgment against Flower and Mafiti said they smuggled cocaine using commercial flights, taking a particular route and landing in Sydney. In the Flower and Mafiti case, Flower eventually pleaded guilty to importing drugs and was sentenced to 28 years in jail.
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