{"id":16127,"date":"2026-05-21T23:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T23:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/16127\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T23:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T23:50:26","slug":"alarming-17-tonne-discovery-exposes-worsening-threat-off-aussie-coast-impossible-to-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/16127\/","title":{"rendered":"Alarming 17-tonne discovery exposes worsening threat off Aussie coast: ‘Impossible to stop’"},"content":{"rendered":"

An alarming discovery off the coast of Australia has exposed a worsening problem on our shores<\/a>, one authorities say is a \u201cserious threat that can\u2019t be ignored\u201d.<\/p>\n

Seventeen tonnes of illicit drugs,<\/a> mostly cocaine, have been seized by local and international law enforcement in the Pacific this year, the Australian Federal Police revealed this week.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s more than three times the amount seized<\/a> across the whole of last year.<\/p>\n

Most of the illicit drugs being trafficked<\/a> to, and through the Pacific, are destined for Australia, the AFP says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s become a serious national security threat for the Pacific and Australia. It is a threat the AFP cannot ignore,\u201d AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said this week.<\/p>\n

\u2018Impossible to stop\u2019 drugs coming into Australia<\/p>\n

Sophisticated crime cartels have been trafficking cocaine into Australia<\/a> for 40-odd years, Ben Mostyn, drug policy expert and deputy director of the Sydney Institute of Criminology, told Yahoo News.<\/p>\n

But despite efforts from Australian and international law enforcement, the amount of cocaine now being seized has skyrocketed.<\/p>\n

Do you have something to say about crime in Australia? Contact newsroomau@yahoonews.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Map<\/p>\n

How drugs are trafficked through the Pacific into Australia.<\/p>\n

(Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP))<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is almost impossible to stop drugs coming into Australia with any efficiency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

“Cocaine is very popular in Australia and very expensive… so it just seems obvious that market forces from Latin America will start sending more and more cocaine to Australia\u201d.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/p>\n

He said drug smugglers will use “anything and everything” to get their deliveries across borders, so ramping up our border security will have little to no impact on drug importation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vast majority of drugs already enter the country despite four decades of increasing policing, longer prison sentences, more surveillance, and stricter border procedures,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

How do cartels traffic drugs into Australia?<\/p>\n

Commissioner Barrett said the increase is partly because \u201cgreedy and ruthless narco-gangs are trying to make more money\u201d by identifying new ways to traffic illicit drugs.<\/p>\n

The use of semi-submersible vehicles to cross the Pacific is one example.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A fishing vessel was previously intercepted near French Polynesia. Source: Marine Nationale\/AFP<\/p>\n

The narco subs used by cartels are low, narrow vessels which can carry up to five tonnes of cocaine at a time.<\/p>\n

According to recent data from ACIC, sea cargo makes up less than 1 per cent of detections but 44 per cent of cocaine importation by weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would suggest it is an effective way to smuggle as it allows large consignments with a low risk of detection,\u201d Mostyn said.<\/p>\n

Three narco subs, some with markings showing they were made in Colombia, have reportedly been found in the Solomon Islands in the past two years.<\/p>\n

Australia urged to help Pacific Islands fight war on drugs<\/p>\n

With the illicit drug threat to the Pacific \u201cexponentially increasing\u201d, Australia has a \u201cmoral responsibility to act,” Commissioner Barrett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia should be helping build resilience in Pacific communities,\u201d Mostyn agreed.<\/p>\n

This week from May 18 to 22, the Fiji Police Force and the AFP are co-hosting the Pacific Transnational Crime Summit in Fiji to strengthen regional cooperation on transnational crime.<\/p>\n

The summit is being held in partnership with the Pacific Transnational Crime Network, which includes crime units in 21 Pacific Island countries.<\/p>\n

Mostyn said Australia should ensure that its war on drugs \u201cdoes not cause crime and corruption in our smaller neighbours\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should consider regulating global cocaine drug markets, as Colombia is considering, to increase stability in our region,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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