Four men who had to be rescued from a tinnie off the Top End coast are facing drug charges after police discovered a commercial quantity of cannabis on board.
The men had only just been reported missing when a Border Force plane spotted them about 130 kilometres from the shore, drifting towards Indonesia about 8:00pm on Saturday.
It is believed they were travelling from Darwin to the Tiwi Islands and had been drifting for more than 30 hours.
Police said the men were "about a quarter of the way to Indonesia" and it would have been lucky if they had enough water to last them another day.
"They ran of fuel and they continued to keep drifting … They were actually located 130km offshore," Duty Superintendent Shaun Gill said.
"It's just a timely reminder, it doesn't matter what you're doing, if you don't have safety gear on and you don't tell anyone where you're going, the potential for this is catastrophic."
During the rescue effort, it was discovered the men were in possession of several bottles of alcohol and a commercial quantity of cannabis, which were seized along with the vessel.
Three men have been given notices to appear in the Wurrumiyanga court at a later date.
A 24-year-old man has been charged with possessing and supplying of a commercial quantity of a Schedule 2 drug.
He has been remanded in custody to face court today.
