High Seas Seizure

Investigators suspected the group of men were teaming with a China-based syndicate to import a significant cocaine shipment into Victoria.?

But when the largest warship in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) fleet entered the scene, the hunt for the drug smugglers was back on via a high sea's pursuit through the Southern Ocean.?

The Melbourne syndicate had organised with its Chinese counterparts to launch a boat from Port Fairy to rendezvous with the mothership in early December 2016 and then transport the cocaine back to shore.?

Their first boat, although modified, was not up to the task.?

Their second boat fell off its trailer and on to the road at 100km/h.?

Their third boat, the Perceive, cost $100,000 in a hasty purchase off an unsuspecting Port Fairy local.?

On December 4 the men set sail in the Perceive for the mothership, but rough seas and sea sickness saw them scamper back to Port Fairy after travelling only 132km.?

Rousing their courage for another trip, a crew of three set out on the Perceive at 1.30am on 7 December.?

But their hopes of finally linking up with the Kaiyo Maru 8 were dashed when they failed to even safely navigate their way out of the harbour at Port Fairy, crashing on rocks and running aground.?

The group not only abandoned the Perceive, but also their plans to secure the cocaine shipment.?

Victoria Police Detective Inspector Andrew Gustke said the group’s failure to collect the drugs was a hinderance to the investigation.?

“The criminal investigation on shore had hit a ceiling because these knuckleheads couldn’t get their act together to get out to the mothership,” Det Insp Gustke said.

Thankfully Maritime Border Command – a multi-agency taskforce enabled by the ABF and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) - had also taken an interest in the Kaiyo Maru 8, monitoring the suspicious ship as it lurked in the waters south of Port Fairy.?

The massive warship HMAS Adelaide, which was assigned to Maritime Border Command at the time, was brought in and Victorian JOCTF members boarded to set sail on a course to seize the Kaiyo Maru 8 and any drugs onboard.?

In the meantime, the Kaiyo Maru 8 had given up on the Melbourne syndicate and began travelling southeast, past Tasmania and deep into the Southern Ocean.?

What was expected to be a three-day return mission for the Adelaide, turned into a two-week chase through the high seas.?

In the early hours of 12 December, after being given the jurisdictional green light, the Australian authorities made their move.?

Special forces commandos swooped in by helicopter to board and take control of the Kaiyo Maru 8.?

They were followed in inflatable boats by Det Insp Gustke and the other Victorian JOCTF representatives, who were tasked with detaining the crew and seizing the drugs and other evidence.?

The officers risked their lives moving from the inflatable boats onto the Kaiyo Maru 8 in very dangerous seas, but once onboard, they discovered a stash of more than 186 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of at least $60 million.?

Back on shore, the Victoria JOCTF raided properties across Melbourne and Queensland on 18 January 2017 and arrested six men involved in the Victorian syndicate on charges of attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.?

The ringleaders of the Melbourne syndicate were given prison sentences ranging between 14 years and 20 years, and the master of the mothership will highly likely be returned to China after he serves 16 years and six months (with a minimum of 10 years) behind bars.?