Man jailed over $47 million cocaine import bust from Mexican cartel
A man has been jailed after police busted a 188kg cocaine shipment sent into Australia by a Mexican drug cartel.
The 50-year-old Sydney man, from Picnic Point, was sentenced to nine years in prison, with a non-parole period of five years, yesterday.
The charges related to a 2019 cocaine import that was seized by police.
Investigators later observed the man moving hundreds of aluminium ingots and trying to access the cocaine he thought was hidden inside.
The man was already in prison for an unrelated matter when he was charged.
Police estimate the seized cocaine had a street value of $47 million.
The man pleaded guilty on April 29 to various drug charges.
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Luke Wilson said cocaine’s popularity with Australians made the country a target market.
“The high demand for cocaine in Australia is at the forefront of our battle with organised crime syndicates; they see that big dollar sign over Australia and know the profit they can make is substantially more than any other target market,” Wilson said.
Police said this shipment, along with most of the cocaine found in Australia, originated from Colombia and other parts of South America
