A man has pleaded guilty to being part of a drug importation racket that resulted in police seizing 700 kilograms of cocaine from a yacht south of Newcastle.
Police tracked the yacht from Tahiti to Coffs Harbour before boarding the vessel at Lake Macquarie, south of Newcastle, in November.
Police believed the yacht may have been loaded with 700kg of cocaine in South America, before sailing to Tahiti where it was met by three Australian men.
The men charged were Craig William Lembke, 48, Kent Anthony Jackson, 63, and Dennis Malcom Bath, 69.
The cocaine had an estimated street value of $245 million.
All three men had their cases heard in Newcastle Local Court today, where Mr Bath pleaded guilty to conspiring to import a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, namely cocaine.
He will be sentenced in Newcastle District Court at a later date.
Newcastle Local Court magistrate Sharon Crews previously told the court Mr Bath and his co-accused Mr Jackson played a greater role than Mr Lembke in relation to what she called the chain of involvement.
Mr Jackson is yet to enter a plea, with his matter set to return to court on July 5.
Mr Lembke is due to be arraigned in Newcastle District Court on the same day, after he waived his right to a committal hearing in the local court.
The court has heard phone taps will play a role in the men's court proceedings, along with evidence obtained by foreign law enforcement officials.
