Overview
- The six men faced a Sydney court Monday on charges of conspiring to import a commercial quantity of cocaine, which carries a potential life sentence.
- Police allege about one tonne of cocaine remained hidden on the MV Raider in a professionally built compartment that was not detected during the French Polynesian seizure of nearly five tonnes on January 16.
- A search in Sydney found three smuggler hides suspected of holding up to six tonnes, and officers say no drugs were recovered but electronic evidence supports the import plot.
- Investigators say device data and a seized satellite phone show links to offshore controllers, with plans to rendezvous with an Australian crew for an at-sea transfer inside Australia’s exclusive economic zone.
- The crew — five Hondurans and one Ecuadorian aged 26 to 63 — were detained at Villawood after a March 12 distress call, and the AFP has now seized the ship as the cross-border probe continues.