A Sunshine resident and his brother, with alleged links to international organised crime have been charged over a complex drug importation plot involving 80 kilograms of cocaine.
In early March, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) identified that a ‘rip crew’ — allegedly linked to the 32-year-old local and his brother, a 38-year-old from Seabrook — was looking to target a shipping container being held at the Port of Melbourne.
A ‘rip crew’ is a group of professionals hired by criminal syndicates to retrieve illegally imported drugs from high-security areas.
The AFP worked with the Australian Border Force (ABF) to identify and inspect the crew’s target container.
ABF officers allegedly found more than 80kg of cocaine and two GPS trackers hidden inside the shipment of industrial machinery.
The AFP removed the illicit drugs and substituted them with an inert substance before returning the container to the shipping yard on March 9, to allow for covert surveillance.
On March 10, two men, dressed in black clothes and balaclavas, allegedly broke into the precinct with bolt cutters and retrieved the inert substance before absconding in a car.
On April 2, the AFP executed search warrants in Seabrook, Sunshine, Dallas and West Melbourne.
Police seized multiple mobile phones, blocks of the substituted illicit consignment, a high-powered rifle, two pistols, ammunition, various quantities of drugs, drug paraphernalia, cash and jewellery.
Subsequently, the Sunshine man was charged with the possession of a controlled drug.
He faces a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment if convicted.
His brother has been charged with multiple offences and faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted.
