Almost three tonnes of cocaine found buried under Sydney property in Australia’s biggest ever seizure, police say | Australia news

Police have uncovered 2.7 tonnes of the drug buried in secret bunkers at a property in Sydney’s western edge, in what they claim is Australia’s largest cocaine seizure to date.

The seizure was carried out by Australian federal police at a semi-rural property in Londonderry on Friday.

Two men, aged 21 and 25, were arrested and charged with possession of a commercial quantity of an illegally imported, border-controlled drug.

Police claimed they found the drugs in plastic containers buried in underground bunkers hidden beneath three shipping containers on the property.

They said the estimated street value of cocaine was about $816 million, which equated to about 3 million “street-level deals.”

Police allege the cocaine was imported into Australia near Midge Point in northern Queensland and brought to Sydney “at the behest of a Sydney organized crime group”.

The seizure was part of Operation Minjiang, a joint AFP investigation with Queensland police, Australian Border Force and other agencies. The incident began when 40kg of cocaine was allegedly found in the water at a boat ramp at Midge Point on the Whitsunday Coast.

The “mother ship” suspected of being part of a drug importation venture called MV Wealth has been detained in the Solomon Islands.

The two men, who were arrested on Friday, appeared in a NSW local court on Saturday and were remanded in custody. The suspects are next expected to appear before Penrith local court on August 13.