Six crew members charged with trying to import tonne of cocaine into Australia on boat from Central America
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Six men from Central and South America are facing the potential of life in prison for allegedly planning to import a tonne of cocaine into Australia on a boat that was stopped in French Polynesia.
Police allege the boat, called the MV Raider, was modified so that it had three separate hiding places for drugs and other illegal goods specially built in to evade detection from authorities while at sea.
"It was custom-made purely for the importation of illicit commodities," Commander Brett James of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said of the boat.
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Police uncover one of the hiding places on the ship. Supplied
"They were very sophisticated and designed to avoid law enforcement detection."
Authorities in French Polynesia allegedly stopped the 40-metre boat, which had set off from Central America, in January and removed 4.8 tonnes of cocaine.
It is alleged the boat was planning to travel to Australia and rendezvous with an Australia-based crew off the coast of NSW.
However, police intercepted the MV Raider about 180 nautical miles off the coast late last month, where the crew was told they would not be granted entry into Australia.
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The MV Raider is towed into Sydney Harbour after making a distress call. Supplied
On March 12, the ship's crew placed a distress call claiming it had mechanical issues and was low on food and water.
It was escorted the next day into Sydney Harbour, where Australian Federal Police raided the boat, while border force officers detained the men as unlawful arrivals and took them to Villawood Detention Centre.
It was during the search that police found the specially built holds, which are suspected to have previously held about six tonnes of cocaine.
While cocaine wasn't found on the ship, police seized a number of items, including electronic devices, that they claim prove the group was attempting to import a tonne of cocaine into Australia.
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Police believe the hiding places were specifically built to smuggle drugs. Supplied
Last weekend, police arrested and charged six crew members, five from Honduras and one from Ecuador, with conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs.
This carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if the men are found guilty.
The men faced court today, where they didn't apply for bail.
The ship has been moored in Birchgrove since its arrival into Sydney, but will now be seized by the AFP.
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