Second Perth man arrested two months after $170 million of cocaine was found by Lancelin locals

18 hours ago 4

A second Perth man has been arrested in relation to a major haul of cocaine that was found attached to floatation devices off the coast of Lancelin in November.

The 44-year-old from Myaree was arrested in Mariginiup on Friday, bringing the total arrests in relation to the seizure up to six including one Croation national and three men from Sydney.

One of the arrests included the chief officer of a livestock carrier that it is alleged dropped the drugs into the ocean off the coast of Lancelin and tied them to floatation devices before they were due to be picked up and imported into the country.

Instead, Lancelin locals found the large packages tied together about 30 kilometres off Lancelin and notified authorities.

Police said a few days before the drugs were found, authorities had been called to a boat that was taking on water off the coast of Guilderton.

Two men from Sydney had to be rescued, and police say the men were attempting to retrieve the cocaine at the time of the incident.

Further investigation found another man, from Perth, had also attempted to retrieve the cocaine at another point.

All three men were charged over their alleged connections to the illegal importation of the drugs, while the chief executive of the livestock carrier - a Croatian national - was charged with attempting to bring the drugs into Australia on board his ship.

Police said they found about 525kg of cocaine tied to the drums, and believe if the shipment had made its way to WA streets, it could have resulted in 2.5 million individual street deals to the tune of about $170 million.

The sixth man will face Perth Magistrates Court on Saturday after he was charged with one count of attempt to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported cocaine. The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.

“Greedy organised crime syndicates are relentless in their attempts to smuggle illicit commodities into Australia, but Commonwealth and State law enforcement and intelligence agencies are dedicated to stopping them profiting at our community’s expense,” Western Australia Joint Organised Crime Taskforce Detective Inspector Matt Taylor said.

“Drug use makes our communities less safe and put more pressure on our health systems – in 2022-23 there were 985 cocaine-related hospitalisations nationally**, more than two each day on average.

“This investigation remains ongoing and further arrests have not been ruled out.”

Anyone with information that can assist this investigation is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.