Australia’s largest cocaine seizure uncovers 2.7 tonnes hidden beneath Sydney property

Australian police have seized 2.7 tonnes of cocaine concealed inside underground bunkers beneath shipping containers at a semi-rural property in Londonderry, on Sydney’s western outskirts. Investigators discovered the drugs during a search on June 19, 2026, and announced the seizure on June 22 as the largest cocaine haul recorded inside Australia. Authorities valued the consignment at approximately A$816 million, equivalent to about US$572 million, and estimated that it could have supplied roughly three million street-level transactions. Two men were arrested at the property, while investigators continue pursuing an alleged organised crime network operating across Queensland and New South Wales.

The cocaine was packed inside plastic tubs buried in three bunkers accessed through false floors built into shipping containers. Police allege the shipment entered Australia near Midge Point in northern Queensland before being transported approximately 1,800 kilometres south to Sydney on behalf of a Sydney-based organised crime group.

The seizure forms part of Operation Minjiang, a multi-agency investigation that had already recovered 178 kilograms of cocaine and 142 kilograms of methamphetamine. When the newly discovered consignment is included, authorities say the operation has prevented more than three tonnes of border-controlled drugs from reaching Australia’s illicit market.

Investigators suspect the drugs may have been transferred from the MV Wealth, a Belize-flagged vessel detained in the Solomon Islands. The alleged maritime route, hidden storage site and long-distance land transport indicate a coordinated importation operation involving offshore logistics, regional collection teams, safe houses and metropolitan distribution networks.

How did police discover the cocaine concealed beneath shipping containers near Sydney?

Operation Minjiang began in late May after Queensland police found approximately 40 kilograms of cocaine floating near a boat ramp at Midge Point. Officers had been responding to reports of a burned-out flatbed truck equipped with a crane, which was discovered beside the dock near where the cocaine was recovered.

Investigators identified the truck’s owner and began tracing people, properties, vehicles and communications potentially linked to the suspected importation. That work led to a series of searches across northern and southeastern Queensland, as well as further enforcement activity in Sydney.

On June 19, Australian Federal Police officers executed a search warrant at the Londonderry property. Police allege that a 21-year-old man from Plumpton and a 25-year-old man from Liverpool attempted to escape on foot before officers arrested them.

The search initially focused on three shipping containers positioned near the rear of the property. Officers discovered that the containers had false floors covering underground bunkers, where plastic tubs containing approximately 2,700 kilograms of cocaine had been stored.

The concealment method suggests that the property was intended to hold the shipment for some time without attracting attention. A semi-rural location offered space, limited pedestrian traffic and the ability to position large containers without immediately appearing unusual.

What charges do the two men arrested at Londonderry now face?

The two men were each charged with possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug under Australia’s federal Criminal Code. The offence carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, although any final penalty would depend on convictions, individual involvement and decisions made by the courts.

Both appeared before a New South Wales Local Court on June 20 and were remanded in custody. They are expected to appear before Penrith Local Court on August 13, 2026.

The charges remain allegations, and prosecutors will need to establish that the defendants knowingly possessed or controlled the cocaine. Physical presence at the property does not by itself prove responsibility for importing, storing or distributing the entire consignment.

Investigators are likely to examine mobile phones, financial records, surveillance footage, vehicle movements and communications with other alleged members of the network. Forensic testing of the containers, tubs and packaging may also help identify who handled or transported the drugs.

Police have not ruled out further arrests. The scale of the shipment and the complexity of the alleged route make it unlikely that the operation depended only on the two men apprehended at Londonderry.

How was the alleged cocaine shipment moved from northern Queensland to Sydney?

Police allege the cocaine arrived near Midge Point, a coastal community north of Mackay in Queensland. Smaller boats are suspected of transferring drugs from a larger vessel operating farther offshore before bringing the shipment towards the coastline.

This type of maritime importation seeks to avoid heavily monitored commercial ports. Remote beaches, boat ramps and coastal inlets can provide criminal groups with landing points where illicit cargo is transferred quickly onto trucks or other vehicles.

Queensland’s coastline extends for thousands of kilometres, creating significant monitoring challenges for border and police agencies. Criminal networks can also exploit legitimate fishing, recreational boating and freight activity to conceal suspicious movements.

Authorities allege that the drugs were subsequently transported south through Queensland and into New South Wales. Moving a shipment of this size would have required suitable vehicles, storage locations, drivers and coordination designed to avoid routine traffic enforcement.

The Londonderry property appears to have functioned as a major storage site before distribution. Police are now investigating whether the cocaine was intended primarily for Sydney or whether portions were due to be moved to other Australian cities.

What is the suspected role of the MV Wealth detained in the Solomon Islands?

Australian authorities have identified the MV Wealth as the suspected mother vessel involved in the Midge Point importation. The ship remains detained by authorities in the Solomon Islands while international and Australian agencies continue examining its movements and possible role.

A mother vessel generally carries a large drug shipment across international waters before transferring smaller loads to faster or less conspicuous boats. Those smaller vessels can approach remote coastlines without bringing the larger ship into an Australian port.

Investigators must still establish where the drugs originated, when they were loaded and which individuals or organisations controlled the vessel. Registration under the Belize flag does not establish that the drugs came from Belize or that the ship’s owners were necessarily involved.

Shipping records, satellite tracking, crew interviews and forensic searches of the vessel could help reconstruct its route. Australian authorities will also require cooperation from the Solomon Islands and potentially other jurisdictions through which the ship travelled.

If the alleged link is confirmed, the investigation may extend far beyond the people charged in Australia. Organising a multi-tonne cocaine shipment normally requires international suppliers, maritime operators, financiers and domestic distribution partners.

Why does the A$816 million valuation reveal Australia’s attraction to drug syndicates?

Australian authorities estimated that the seized cocaine had a domestic street value of approximately A$816 million. The figure is based on potential retail distribution and does not necessarily represent what importers originally paid or the profit that any one organisation would have received.

Cocaine prices in Australia are substantially higher than in many producing or transit regions. That price difference gives international criminal groups a strong incentive to accept the cost and risk of transporting drugs across long maritime routes.

The potential profit grows further when cocaine is divided into smaller quantities and sold through regional and metropolitan networks. Criminal groups may also dilute the product before retail sale, increasing the number of transactions and revenue while raising health risks for consumers.

Australian Federal Police Commander Stephen Jay said the alleged operation demonstrated the lengths organised criminal groups would take to exploit domestic demand and high prices. Authorities estimated that the Londonderry consignment represented around three million individual street-level deals.

The record seizure removes a significant shipment, but it does not eliminate the market that attracted it. Continued consumer demand creates replacement opportunities for other syndicates and may encourage traffickers to develop new maritime routes and concealment methods.

How does Operation Minjiang connect the Sydney seizure with earlier Queensland arrests?

Before the Londonderry discovery, Operation Minjiang had already resulted in the seizure of 178 kilograms of cocaine and 142 kilograms of methamphetamine. Those drugs were found during searches connected to suspected safe houses, vehicles and alleged participants operating across Queensland.

Six people were initially charged over alleged roles in collecting, storing or moving drugs linked to the Midge Point importation. Further charges were later brought against additional suspects, including people accused of attempting to possess commercial quantities of border-controlled drugs.

Police allege that a 41-year-old Mackay-area man owned the burned-out truck found near the boat ramp and helped facilitate the collection of the shipment. A 24-year-old New South Wales man was separately accused of travelling to Midge Point and assisting with the movement of drugs.

Investigators also searched a suspected safe house at Petrie, north of Brisbane, and examined connections to properties and vehicles in other suburbs. A van containing 178 kilograms of cocaine and 142 kilograms of methamphetamine was later located at Mount Cotton.

The widening investigation illustrates how large importations are divided across different operational teams. One group may organise maritime collection, another may provide vehicles, while separate participants manage safe houses, storage and interstate transport.

Why is the Londonderry haul considered Australia’s largest cocaine seizure?

The 2.7-tonne seizure exceeds Australia’s previous record cocaine haul of approximately 2.34 tonnes, which was recovered in 2024 from a fishing vessel near K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, off Queensland.

Authorities have intercepted larger mixed-drug consignments and international shipments connected to Australia before, but the Londonderry discovery is being described as the largest single cocaine seizure physically made within the country.

The record is significant because most border interceptions occur before drugs enter domestic distribution networks. In this case, the cocaine had allegedly already travelled from the coastline to a storage facility close to Australia’s largest city.

That progression meant the drugs were closer to being divided and released into the market. Police intervention at the Londonderry property therefore disrupted not only an importation but a potentially imminent distribution phase.

The size of the consignment also indicates that criminal networks believed Australia could absorb an unusually large quantity. Whether the drugs belonged to one organisation or were financed by several groups remains part of the continuing investigation.

What weaknesses does the alleged Midge Point landing expose along Australia’s coastline?

Australia’s maritime border is vast and cannot be monitored continuously at every beach, inlet and boat ramp. Organised crime groups exploit that geographic challenge by using legitimate-looking vessels and selecting locations with limited surveillance.

Remote coastal transfers also allow traffickers to avoid customs controls associated with container terminals and airports. A mother vessel can remain offshore while smaller craft collect cargo and land it quickly.

The discovery of cocaine floating near the Midge Point boat ramp suggests that at least part of the transfer did not proceed smoothly. The burned-out truck may also indicate an attempt to destroy evidence, although the precise circumstances remain subject to investigation.

The case demonstrates the importance of local policing in national border security. What began as a response to an abandoned truck and drugs in the water developed into a multi-state operation involving federal agencies, financial intelligence bodies and international cooperation.

Technology, maritime intelligence and information from fishing and coastal communities will remain important. However, the size of Australia’s coastline means law enforcement must rely heavily on identifying suspicious behaviour and tracing networks after an attempted landing.

What role did Australia’s multi-agency organised crime taskforce play?

Operation Minjiang was conducted through the Queensland Joint Organised Crime Taskforce. The taskforce includes the Australian Federal Police, Queensland Police Service, Australian Border Force, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, AUSTRAC and the Australian Taxation Office.

Each organisation contributes a different capability. Police agencies conduct arrests and searches, while border officials examine shipping and maritime movements. Financial intelligence can identify suspicious transactions, and taxation investigations may reveal assets or income inconsistent with declared business activity.

New South Wales Police Highway Patrol also assisted with elements of the operation. Cooperation across state borders was necessary because the alleged shipment moved from northern Queensland to western Sydney.

The investigation demonstrates why organised crime cases cannot be handled as isolated local offences. The suspected network crossed maritime borders, state jurisdictions and potentially international financial systems.

Future prosecutions will depend on how effectively the agencies combine their evidence. Digital, financial and physical records must establish the role of each accused person without confusing association with criminal responsibility.

What happens next in Australia’s largest cocaine investigation?

Investigators will continue examining the origin of the cocaine and the international network suspected of organising the shipment. Forensic analysis may identify chemical characteristics that connect the drugs to particular production or trafficking regions.

The MV Wealth investigation will be central to establishing the offshore route. Authorities must determine whether the vessel carried the entire shipment and how the drugs were transferred to smaller boats near Queensland.

Police are also likely to investigate the ownership, rental and use of the Londonderry property. Building hidden bunkers beneath shipping containers would have required planning, construction work and confidence that the site could operate without detection.

Financial investigators will attempt to identify who paid for the cocaine, vessels, vehicles and storage infrastructure. Freezing or confiscating assets can damage criminal organisations beyond the immediate loss of drugs.

The upcoming court proceedings will begin testing the prosecution’s evidence against the people charged. Until those cases are resolved, the defendants are presumed innocent and allegations concerning their roles remain unproven.

The record seizure is a major operational success, but the broader outcome will depend on whether authorities identify the organisers and financial beneficiaries rather than only people alleged to have collected or stored the drugs.

What are the key takeaways from Australia’s record cocaine seizure near Sydney?

• Australian police seized 2.7 tonnes of cocaine from underground bunkers concealed beneath shipping containers at a semi-rural property in Londonderry on June 19, 2026.
• Authorities announced the discovery on June 22 and described it as the largest cocaine seizure recorded within Australia, exceeding the previous 2.34-tonne national record established in 2024.
• Police valued the cocaine at approximately A$816 million, equivalent to about US$572 million, and estimated that it could have supplied roughly three million street-level drug transactions.
• A 21-year-old Plumpton man and a 25-year-old Liverpool man were arrested at the property and charged with possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug.
• Investigators allege the shipment was landed near Midge Point in northern Queensland before being transported approximately 1,800 kilometres to Sydney for an organised crime network.
• The suspected mother vessel, the Belize-flagged MV Wealth, has been detained in the Solomon Islands while authorities investigate whether it carried the drugs used in the alleged importation.
• Operation Minjiang had already recovered 178 kilograms of cocaine and 142 kilograms of methamphetamine, taking the operation’s total drug seizures beyond three tonnes.
• The investigation now centres on identifying the international suppliers, financiers, maritime operators and domestic organisers responsible for moving and storing the record consignment.