Police Charge Yacht Crew With Smuggling Wanted Fugitive Out of Australia
Police in Western Australia have arrested three people in connection with an alleged attempt to smuggle a wanted fugitive out of the country on a sailing yacht.
The plot centered on the legal troubles of an alleged motorcycle gang member from Queensland, who had outstanding warrants for his arrest on drug trafficking charges and a return-to-prison order. The police were also looking to question him in connection with "multiple serious crimes."
An organized crime group is suspected of making arrangements for the fugitive to get out of the country. According to police, two suspects in their 40s - a man and a woman - picked up a newly-bought sailing yacht in Perth, Australia in May and sailed it to Exmouth, a remote port on Western Australia's central coast. A third woman picked up the fugitive and delivered him to a boat ramp at the port, where he met up with the yacht. Together, the small crew and their passenger set off for foreign shores in Indonesia, according to Australian authorities.
On Monday, a police tactical response force intercepted and boarded the yacht at a position about 45 nautical miles off the coast of Exmouth, outside of Australian territorial seas. They detained the fugitive and both crewmembers; the driver who had delivered the fugitive to Exmouth was arrested the same day.
The two crewmembers were charged with people smuggling, the first time that the statute has ever been used in Western Australia. The court refused their bail application, and they will next appear to face charges on June 15.
"We're grateful to our colleagues at the AFP and Western Australia Police Force who worked with us to locate the wanted Queensland man," Queensland Police Service Detective Inspector Dave Barron said in a statement. "We have zero tolerance for anyone who participates in the trafficking of dangerous drugs and as demonstrated in this case we will hold any alleged offender to account."
that matters most
Get the latest maritime news delivered to your inbox daily.
Illegal biker gangs play a substantial role in Australia's prolific and lucrative drug trade. They tend to operate the distribution side of the business, in partnership with the foreign organized crime groups that handle inbound wholesale smuggling operations, notably Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.
Australia is the world's leading consumer of cocaine per capita, and has some of the highest prices for the drug to be found anywhere - and the highest profit margins. A single $2,000 kilo of cocaine successfully smuggled into Australia can be worth more than $200,000, depending on current market conditions.