A Sydney man is the latest to be nabbed in the "sting of the century" after he was allegedly caught orchestrating the import of $64 million in cocaine via a fruit juice tanker ship.
The 41-year-old was arrested as part of Operation Ironside, which has uncovered murder plots, weapon purchases and mass drug trafficking thanks to an encrypted online platform secretly overseen by the US FBI.
The surveillance of the "ANoM" communication platform has resulted in the arrest of more than 220 Australian organised crime figures since 2018, with the Australian Federal Police calling it the "sting of the century".
Police say the Bondi man planned to smuggle the 216kg of cocaine into NSW by hiding it in the hull of a fruit juice tanker ship destined for the state from Brazil.
He was making arrangements for a team of divers to retrieve the drugs from the bottom of the ship upon its arrival in Australia, they say, when it was intercepted in Belgium on June 21.
"Our highly skilled Australian Border Force officers were able to identify the vessel, its projected movements and the probable location of the drug concealment based on scant information," ABF Superintendent Alex O'Brien said on Saturday.
Authorities found three bags packed with cocaine inside the sea chest of the ship.
The man was arrested on Friday morning and charged with directing a criminal group, conspiring to import a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and possessing a prohibited weapon.
He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The man was refused bail and next appear before court on June 30.
A second man, currently in custody awaiting trial on unrelated charges, will face additional charges over the cocaine bust.
