SYDNEY, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- An Australian crime syndicate has been busted allegedly using a former Japanese whaling vessel to import cocaine into Australia, local media said on Wednesday.
The syndicate, based in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne, was under police surveillance for a year before the vessel was intercepted 1300 km off the coast of Tasmania on Dec. 12 despite the ship never entering Australian waters.
Authorities spent another five weeks investigating the syndicate before arresting six men, four in Melbourne and two in Queensland on Wednesday morning, over the haul of 186 kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of 45 million U.S. dollars found on board.
Ten men onboard the ship have already been charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug with the six men expected to face the same charges.
Australian authorities will allege that the syndicate used a method of importation known as the "mothership" method whereby a ship importing drugs loiters off the coast before being met by a smaller boat which brings the drugs to shore.
The joint operation, codenamed Barada, involved the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Victoria Police's joint organized crime task force, Australian Border Force, Australian Defence Force, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and Tasmania Police and has been heralded as an unparalleled effort of collaboration.
Neil Gaughan, acting deputy commissioner of the AFP, said that investigators who worked on the operation had put in "long hours over the last few months to stop this group benefiting from the exploitation of Australians."
"Investigations into organized crime syndicates such as this are incredibly complex and require significant resources, patience and sophisticated police work to get successful results." Gaughan told Fairfax Media.
Despite the legal complexity of raiding a boat which never entered Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone, authorities' hands were forced by strong evidence that there was a significant amount of drugs on board.
