Two Norwegians Get Jail Time for Trying to Retrieve Cocaine From Bulker
An Australian court has sentenced two Norwegian men to long jail terms for attempting to retrieve 80 kilos of cocaine from a bulker at Newcastle. According to prosecutors, the two men flew to Australia, drove to Newcastle and used diving gear to try to get the drugs out of the bulker's sea chest.
On January 23, 2023, someone tipped off the New South Wales Police Force that a bulker was arriving at Newcastle on a voyage from Brazil, and was carrying a hidden load of cocaine. On the same day, a passerby noticed strange activity along the waterfront at Swansea, a seaside town about 15 miles south of Newcastle. The passerby contacted a police tip line and reported that two men were operating an unusual equipment configuration: diving gear, seabobs (high-cost miniature jetskis), and a tow harness fitted with shackles and weights.
When the bulker arrived at Newcastle the next morning, NSW Police Force divers were on hand to search the vessel's hull. They found six duffle bags containing a combined 80 kilos of cocaine tucked in the sea chest, a favorite hiding place for international smugglers.
Duffle bags of cocaine found in the bulker's sea chest (AFP)
On the 25th, the two men were once again spotted by the public and reported to the authorities, this time in Newcastle's harbor. Later that day, when the suspects returned to shore, police arrested them and recovered their equipment: a black climbing belt, diving goggles, a diving bag, bolt cutters, diving gloves, pliers and a pocket knife. In their vehicle, the police found more gear, along with electronic devices and receipts.
On examining the two men's phones, NSF police found text conversations in an encrypted chat app that detailed the plans for retrieving cocaine from the bulker. The men had flown into Brisbane from Indonesia, separately, then joined up and headed south by car. On the way to Newcastle, they bought dive gear, tools, and the two seabobs, among other things. (The two seabobs were later recovered from underneath a pier on the Hunter River, near Newcastle, aged and covered in sea growth.)
The two seabobs after recovery (Courtesy AFP)
If their diving operation had been successful, the two Norwegian men would have delivered about USD$20 million worth of cocaine for Australia's booming drug market, enough for 400,000 street deals. Both of the men were charged with attempting to possess a border controlled drug, and both opted to plead guilty. Both have now been sentenced to a prison term of 10 years.
“Criminals view Australia as a lucrative market to sell illicit drugs, and will go to great lengths, even risking their own safety, to make a quick buck,” Australian Federal Police Detective Superintendent Peter Fogarty said in a statement. "Divers hired by criminal syndicates are a cog in the wheel of organized crime, and they will be pursued and apprehended, no matter where they sit in a syndicate’s hierarchy."