#organised-crime

#organised-crime

As part of the operation, a truck and trailer unit travelling from the continent was searched at the port. This revealed an elaborate lead lined concealment within the fuel tank of the vehicle. The operation then discovered approximately 150kg of cocaine within the concealment with an estimated street value of €10.5m. A male in his 50's was arrested and is currently detained under Organised Crime Legislation in the South East of the country.

Police said officers had been conducting a routine surveillance operation in Sydney's Condell Park area on Tuesday when they allegedly identified the trio mobilising to carry out an offence. Officers immediately sought assistance from the tactical operations unit, PolAir, the dog squad and the state intelligence command. Just before 4pm they conducted high-risk stops of two vehicles in Revesby using less than lethal rounds and arrested the three men, aged 18, 19 and 26.

The seizure shows how organised crime groups are using ever-more sophisticated methods to evade detection. Smugglers would have known Border Force faced paying out hundreds of thousands of pounds had they damaged the combined 40 tonnes of equipment without detecting anything. Home Office minister Mike Tapp said: Vile drug smugglers thought the threat of a huge damages bill would scare Border Force off intercepting this deadly cocaine haul.

A senior detective said cracking the covert messaging platform EncroChat was pivotal in securing convictions against members of an organised crime group who planned to smuggle 48m worth of cocaine into Europe. The gang was involved in the plot to smuggle 600kg (94st 6lb) of the Class A drug on a yacht that was being used in a transatlantic sailing race. The ringleaders - Lee McClenaghan and Lea Talbot, both from Essex - admitted their involvement and were imprisoned for 30 and 23 years respectively.