SYDNEY: Australian police have made the country’s largest ever cocaine seizure, uncovering 2.7 tonnes of the drug hidden in underground bunkers in western Sydney, authorities said on Monday, according to German news agency dpa.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said officers found the cocaine on Friday during a search of a semi-rural property in Londonderry, about 60 kilometres north-west of Sydney’s city centre.
The drugs were discovered in plastic tubs buried in underground bunkers concealed beneath false floors in three shipping containers, police said.
The haul had an estimated street value of about A$816 million (US$571 million) and was equivalent to about three million “street-level deals”, the AFP said.
Two men, aged 21 and 25, were arrested after trying to flee on foot.
Police said the men were each charged with possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
“Police will allege the cocaine seized at Londonderry was imported into Australia near Midge Point, in North Queensland, and transported to Sydney at the behest of a Sydney organised crime group,” the AFP said in a statement, adding that investigations into the group are continuing.
Police said the wider investigation had previously led to the seizure of 178 kilogrammes of cocaine and 142 kilogrammes of methamphetamine, bringing the total amount of drugs seized to more than 3 tonnes.
The seizure follows an April wastewater drug report that found cocaine consumption in Australia had reached a record estimated 7.98 tonnes between August 2024 and August 2025, up 17 per cent from the previous 12-month period. – BERNAMA-dpa
