Australia police seize $500m of cocaine after boat breaks down

Vocabulary: 201, Words: 362

1Australian Police have seized 2.3 tonnes of cocaine from a broken-down boat off the coast of Queensland, authorities said on Monday.

2Eleven men and two juveniles were arrested, including the vessel's crew and others waiting on the shore to collect the illegal shipment.

3The drugs had an estimated street value of A$760m ($490m; £388m), with the potential to be distributed across 11.7 million separate street deals - making it the largest cocaine bust in Australian history.

4The Australian Federal Police (AFP) alleged one of the men arrested on Saturday night was vice-president of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle club’s Brisbane chapter.

5Biker gangs are notorious in Australia for their drug violence, with more than 1,000 shootings recorded since the 1980s.

6This recent cocaine bust came as part of a wider investigation into the Comanchero gang, codenamed Operation Tyrrendor, which began last month.

7Authorities said they received intelligence suggesting a criminal syndicate with links to the gang was planning to import illegal drugs into Australia.

8This comes after reports last week that the Colombian navy intercepted a semi-submersible carrying cocaine to Australia.

9Investigators told reporters in Brisbane the record cocaine shipment had come from an unidentified South American country.

10The AFP worked with the Queensland Police Service (QPS) and the Australian Border Force (ABF) to track a fishing boat, recently purchased by a 35-year-old man.

11On Saturday night, it was being used to transport the cocaine delivery from a larger mothership to the Queensland coast when it suffered a mechanical fault, police said.

12Stranded about 18km from the north-eastern tip of K'gari, it was intercepted by the AFP and QPS, who found 51 bales tied with rope netting.

13Each bale contained 40kg of cocaine, totalling 2.34 tonnes.

14Two men were arrested on the boat and two others were arrested on the coast while waiting for the shipment.

15A further three arrests were made at a nearby fast-food restaurant, with five others at a traffic stop.

16The final arrest was made in Brisbane after the AFP and QPS executed a search warrant.

17All 11 men and two juveniles were were charged with conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of cocaine, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

from BBC