$1 billion cocaine ring dubbed "The Commission" busted in Australia, police say
Australian police said Thursday they had busted a drug trafficking ring dubbed "The Commission" that brought more than a ton of cocaine into the country in just a few months.
Six men aged between 25 and 34 were arrested in raids that turned up more than 30 kilograms of cocaine, including 20 kilograms that had been stuffed in a bag and tossed over a fence, New South Wales Police Force said in a news release.
Police alleged this was a mere fraction of the total supply, alleging the group had shifted 1.2 tons of cocaine between February and July this year.
Police claimed that the street value of the drugs was about US$1 billion.
Police said detectives executed 20 search warrants at homes across Sydney early Wednesday morning. In addition to the cocaine, detectives allegedly seized 10 cars, $800,000 in cash, a Rolex watch, four guns, two ballistic vests and multiple electronic devices. Police said officers allegedly found 12 kilograms of cocaine in hidden compartments in the vehicles.
Organized crime detective Peter Faux said the group had "played the role of government, bank and economy to Sydney's criminal underworld," through an ambitious pace of cocaine imports.
"These arrests today will result in many criminals becoming unemployed as the large-scale drug supply that finances their crimes dries up," said Faux.
Photos showed police seizing plastic-wrapped bundles marked with four-leaf clovers, Toyota logos and fighter jets.
"The supply of cocaine to Sydney has continued to poison this city for years and has fueled and funded the organized tit-for-tat violence police see today," NSW Police Force Commissioner Karen Webb said in a statement. "I am confident that today's arrests will make the community safer and make this dangerous drug harder to find."
The raids did not appear to be linked to the recent arrest of the alleged criminal mastermind behind the encrypted "Ghost" app.
In that case, a 32-year-old Australian man allegedly designed an encrypted channel for foreign criminals to arrange drug deals and contract killings.
In a separate case earlier this year, an alleged drug trafficker was charged after being linked to bricks of cocaine that mysteriously washed up on Australian beaches.