0:02

The

0:02

Australian Federal Police, or AFP

0:04

for short, is Australia's national

0:07

policing agency. Its aim?

0:09

To outsmart serious crime with

0:11

intelligent action.

0:14

Officers from the AFP work with

0:16

local, national and international agencies

0:18

to combat serious criminal threats. Their

0:22

work includes counter-terrorism, serious

0:24

organised crime, human trafficking,

0:27

cybercrime, fraud and child

0:29

exploitation. The

0:31

AFP exists to disrupt major

0:34

criminal operations. In

0:36

2020-21, they did that over 400 times. They seized 38 tonnes of

0:38

illicit drugs and precursors and

0:46

assisted overseas police services

0:48

in seizing 19 tonnes of drugs.

0:51

The AFP charged 235 people with

0:55

child exploitation and charged 25

0:58

people following terrorism investigations.

1:01

The

1:01

Australian Federal Police is opening

1:03

its doors to give you a glimpse of how their

1:06

officers investigate the most serious

1:08

of crimes and stay one step

1:10

ahead to keep Australia safe.

1:31

Law enforcement agencies around the world

1:33

share intelligence with their international

1:35

partners. In the case

1:37

of Operation Collage, the AFP

1:40

received intel about a huge shipment

1:42

of drugs headed to Australian shores

1:44

from Ecuador.

1:46

In South America, Ecuador borders

1:48

Colombia, which produces over 40% of

1:51

the world's cocaine.

1:53

Cocaine produced at $1,500 per

1:56

kilo in jungle labs can be

1:58

sold on the streets of the US.

1:59

for as much as $50,000 a kilo.

2:03

These profits are large enough for its producers

2:06

to take big risks in sending it to

2:08

other countries.

2:10

What cocaine users probably don't

2:12

realise is its production has a huge

2:15

environmental impact with deforestation,

2:18

carbon emissions and the release of

2:20

toxins into local water supplies.

2:23

AFP Detective Inspector Luke Wilson

2:26

wonders if cocaine users take that

2:28

into consideration.

2:30

I think one of the untold and unthought-of

2:32

aspects of the drug trade is the environmental

2:35

harm that comes with it in these

2:37

source countries in South America where cocaine

2:40

is produced. The damage to the

2:42

environment through chemical waste dumping

2:44

and land clearing and pollution of

2:46

waterways is quite staggering,

2:48

but I sometimes think the drug

2:51

user in Australia just conveniently

2:53

ignores that cocaine is not organically

2:55

manufactured and safe to the environment.

2:58

And I find that quite concerning.

3:01

If there's no other harm you consider from

3:03

it, there is a very severe environmental

3:05

harm associated with this trade.

3:07

Detective Inspector Dave Kraft

3:10

at the AFP agrees.

3:12

Even if you were to go and Google the cocaine

3:15

manufacturing process and look at some of the remote

3:18

jungle labs and locations where the

3:20

product is made from cocaine, there's

3:23

a vast array of chemicals and everything

3:25

else that go into that process to break

3:27

it down, to get it to that

3:29

final brick powder product. Gasoline,

3:32

for instance, is used in that process because of the remote

3:35

locations, because of the sanitary

3:37

conditions of literally working in the jungle.

3:39

You can imagine some of the things that would get mixed

3:42

up in any manufacturing process.

3:44

The importation of drugs to Australian

3:47

shores is not surprising since there

3:49

is a strong demand. Dave

3:51

has watched this demand change over

3:53

the years.

3:54

Gone are the days of cocaine being

3:57

an affluent drug. It was often really

3:59

displayed that way. in movies and television

4:01

shows as an elitist drug, but those days

4:04

are definitely gone. Cocaine is now more of a mainstream

4:06

drug

4:07

that is utilised by people in all walks of

4:09

life, all demographics, all ages.

4:11

That's really come about because of the prevalence

4:14

of the drug, mainly, but also because

4:16

of our high disposable income, particularly

4:19

throughout the last 10 years. It's been

4:21

influenced by the

4:23

building industry boom, the mining

4:25

industry, with tradies, plumbers,

4:27

your builders, all those kind of mainstream

4:29

people that have high disposable income,

4:32

are now exposed to that opportunity

4:34

to utilise that drug if they so choose.

4:37

The cocaine user is removed from

4:40

the processes the drugs they buy go

4:42

through.

4:43

Each step along the way, if a kilo

4:45

of cocaine was to come into Australia, the

4:47

recipient of that cocaine would cut it down

4:50

with another product. It could be anything as far

4:52

as creatine,

4:54

aspirin, or even laxatives.

4:57

It's something

4:58

that is purely driven by profit. So they

5:00

want to make more money, they want to make more

5:02

product out of what they get. So the

5:04

purity levels will drop, obviously, the more the

5:07

substances are cut and mixed. It really

5:10

shows the dangers that are involved for

5:12

users. They don't know what the purity level is, and

5:15

they don't know what it's been cut with.

5:17

They then potentially are exposed

5:19

to substances that they're not knowingly taking.

5:22

And ultimately, the higher the purity,

5:24

the more risk there is of death. It's no

5:26

secret that a high purity of cocaine can

5:29

lead to a heart attack or cardiac

5:31

arrest. The AFP will

5:33

always try and protect Australia from serious

5:35

and organised crime. Drugs

5:38

are a big part of this. For

5:41

Luke, Operation Collage began

5:43

when intel was received that a boat of

5:45

cocaine was headed for Australian

5:47

shores.

5:59

vessel on its way from South America

6:02

on route to the Australian East Coast. And

6:04

that vessel, although it wasn't identified, was

6:06

said to be carrying a large amount

6:08

of order controlled drugs and it

6:10

was estimated that it was going to arrive on

6:13

the Australian East Coast about the 8th of October 2010.

6:17

So we effectively received the information

6:19

a day before it was due to

6:21

arrive within close vicinity of the

6:23

Australian coastline.

6:25

It's suggested the vessel could

6:27

be carrying up to half a tonne of cocaine.

6:30

If this was true and the Australian

6:32

team could intercept it,

6:34

the seizure would be one of the largest to

6:36

date.

6:37

It was a bit of a Herculean task

6:40

really for our colleagues in the Australian

6:42

Customs Service or the Border Protection

6:44

Service back in those days to basically

6:47

take this very raw information we'd

6:49

received and conduct a very

6:51

systematic approach of scanning the Australian

6:53

coastline looking for vessels that

6:56

match the criteria. We knew that there would

6:58

be a mother vessel

6:59

travelling across the Pacific

7:01

towards the Australian coastline and we understood

7:03

that a daughter vessel would leave the Australian

7:06

coastline to rendezvous at sea.

7:08

But effectively that was the extent of the information.

7:11

So for them to be able to deploy

7:13

all of their maritime and aerial surveillance

7:15

capabilities and to narrow

7:17

what is effectively an entire

7:19

ocean worth of vessels down to two vessels

7:22

of interest was quite remarkable and quite

7:24

a testament to their capabilities.

7:26

When all the agencies were called on board

7:29

for Operation Collage, the team had to

7:31

predict where the transfer of drugs would

7:33

take place.

7:35

There's a myth that if it takes place

7:37

in international waters, Australian

7:39

law enforcement can't intervene.

7:42

The Australian Economic Exclusion Zone

7:44

extends from the coastline of Australia

7:46

to 200 nautical miles out

7:49

from the coast and that's effectively Australia's

7:51

territorial waters out to that distance.

7:54

There's a view by transnational

7:56

organised crime groups that if they were

7:58

to conduct their operation, they would be able to do that.

7:59

and their handover of drugs

8:02

beyond that 200 nautical mile limit that

8:04

they're outside the Australian government's

8:07

ability to interdict or stop that offence

8:09

from occurring. It's quite clear

8:11

in international maritime law that the

8:14

Australian government and all governments for that

8:16

matter have the ability to prosecute and

8:18

chase vessels into what is effectively

8:20

international waters

8:22

where they've contravened an Australian law.

8:24

In the case of a mother-daughtership arrangement

8:27

where the drugs are transferred from the

8:29

mother ship to the daughtership, then that

8:31

mother ship is effectively able to

8:33

be chased and brought

8:35

back to Australia and the crew

8:37

prosecuted for an offence against Australian law

8:39

despite the fact that they

8:41

committed their offence in international waters.

8:44

Even though the mid-ocean transfer of

8:46

drugs from one vessel to another is

8:48

hard to pinpoint, certain conclusions

8:51

can be made when a vessel sails so

8:53

far out in treacherous conditions.

8:55

It's certainly difficult to conduct surveillance

8:58

in the maritime domain

9:00

because effectively you've got two vessels

9:02

in the middle of the ocean and it's difficult

9:04

to be able to maintain an aerial

9:06

platform surveilling that to

9:09

be able to monitor that sort of exchange at sea.

9:11

To a degree we are relying on monitoring

9:14

the movements of those vessels and certainly it would

9:16

be suspicious for a vessel to sail

9:18

that far out of the Australian coastline

9:21

in terrible weather as it was at that time

9:24

to immediately turn around and return. Assumptions

9:26

can be made from that path or that route

9:28

that it's taken out at sea.

9:31

Once the interception point was identified,

9:34

Lee Forsyth, Manager of Enforcement

9:36

Operations with Australian Customs and

9:38

Border Protection, was asked to run

9:40

the customs side of it.

9:42

I was in Canberra at the time and I was

9:44

just called in and advised that there

9:47

was a mother vessel

9:49

on its way carrying a large quantity of cocaine

9:52

and that there was a daughter vessel which is

9:55

the vessel heading out from Australian

9:57

waters. The information was

9:59

that that they believed had already left,

10:02

and it was believed to have possibly

10:05

left from Port Macquarie.

10:08

The other information that was to hand was

10:10

a rough rendezvous location

10:13

about 400 mile off the beach. Clearly

10:15

the time we got the information, it was

10:18

pretty time critical to get moving because

10:20

that

10:21

daughter vessel had already

10:23

left Port and was on its way out. The

10:25

fact that it was that far off the coast

10:29

did give us plenty of lead in time, but

10:32

we still had to get moving pretty well straight away.

10:34

Because the daughter vessel had left from

10:36

Port Macquarie, Lee and the team

10:39

expected it would return to Port Macquarie

10:41

after the rendezvous at sea to collect the

10:43

cocaine from the mother vessel.

10:46

With the information that the daughter vessel

10:48

had left Port Macquarie, there was no information

10:51

to suggest that it would return

10:53

to any other coastal

10:55

location, so we were of the view

10:58

that we would be aiming to

11:00

set up at Port Macquarie for its return.

11:03

One thing that we're very mindful of with

11:06

these sorts of operations is you need that maritime

11:09

presence virtually circling

11:11

the wagon. So we needed a boat to the north

11:14

and a boat to the south

11:16

that could

11:17

hopefully cut off any escapes from the vessel.

11:19

If it was heading north or going south, we'd have it pretty

11:21

well covered. We had two boats

11:24

that were at that time stationed in

11:26

Cairns, both of which were deployed

11:28

to the operation. One was the ocean protector,

11:31

which was a large vessel

11:33

that was primarily used for Southern Ocean

11:35

work.

11:36

That was the vessel that we used to

11:39

deploy out to where the mother vessel

11:41

was.

11:42

Maintain a watch on that. And the other one was

11:44

a customs vessel, which was the Botany

11:47

Bay. When we advised

11:49

them that the daughter vessel would probably come

11:51

back to Port Macquarie, the time and space

11:53

worked out that

11:54

had it deployed straight away, it probably wouldn't get

11:56

to

11:57

Port Macquarie in time.

11:59

to cut the daughter vessel off.

12:02

So we deployed it anyway and just

12:04

get down there in case the situation

12:06

changes. But what it did do then

12:08

was it left us a vessel shy

12:11

of the southern aspects of the job.

12:14

With the ocean protector watching the mother

12:16

vessel and the Botany Bay heading

12:18

down from the north, Lee needed to

12:20

organise a vessel to come up from the south.

12:24

Straight away, I thought of Jo. Jo and I had

12:26

worked together on a lot of exercises

12:29

boarding commercial and small craft vessels

12:31

at sea.

12:33

And so he was a logical choice to go

12:35

to. So I gave him a ring. Yeah, it was

12:37

probably about 10 o'clock that night.

12:39

He's the type of operator. He's just so keen for

12:41

the fight. I didn't have to give him much of a briefing,

12:44

just simply to say that it was a live job, not an

12:46

exercise.

12:47

We needed a boat with a capability. And

12:51

he said, when do you need it? Buy it. Superintendent

12:54

Joe McNulty is the commander of the New

12:56

South Wales Police Marine Area Command.

12:59

He has spent most of his career policing

13:01

on the water and has a master's in maritime

13:04

law and policy.

13:06

When Jo got the call from Lee late

13:08

that Friday night, he knew the

13:10

job would be big. It

13:12

was quite strange because I received a call at about 10pm

13:15

on a Friday night, and I never received

13:17

those type of calls unless there was something going

13:19

on.

13:20

And I answered the phone, I said, oh Lee,

13:22

this is going to be good, isn't it? He said, yes, it

13:24

is. And he drove straight into

13:26

the details of the job.

13:28

He told me that there were two vessels coming together,

13:31

approximately 400 nautical miles off the

13:33

coast, and done type

13:35

of exchange, which we assumed at

13:37

the time was an importation of

13:39

illegal drugs or illegal commodities.

13:42

Now at the time it had been confirmed that

13:45

the exchange had taken place. They had some aircraft

13:48

in the location and got

13:50

some further intel to share with that.

13:52

The best option was to utilise the New

13:55

South Wales Police Marine Area Command

13:57

boat.

13:58

There were no other suitable vessels. in that

14:00

zone. So they reached out to New South Wales Police

14:02

to request the use of the police launch Nemesis.

14:05

And Nemesis is our 32 metre patrol

14:07

boat, a very capable vessel for

14:09

those offshore ocean patrols. With

14:12

a low pressure system moving into the East

14:15

Tasman Sea, Joe knew the

14:17

southwest Pacific was about to get

14:19

hit really hard.

14:21

He had to put together a crew suited

14:23

to what could be days at sea in severe

14:26

weather conditions. I had

14:28

to select some of the best crew

14:30

that were used to these harsh sea

14:32

conditions. And we do have a lot of officers

14:35

that respond to our search and rescue conditions

14:37

because we have to respond, as you would expect,

14:40

to a vessel in distress off our coastline.

14:42

So a number of our officers handle the sea

14:44

conditions really well, or what we call, you've got good

14:47

sea legs and you can put up with the

14:49

rolling, pitching, longevity

14:51

of those bad seas off the coast. So I did select

14:54

two sergeants to lead the

14:56

mission that would provide not only the

14:58

leadership to the crew, but also

15:00

had the sea legs to be able to withstand

15:03

the long days, nights, stress,

15:05

fatigue, seasickness and

15:08

keep the Nemesis on track as

15:10

efficiently as we could and hold

15:12

her there to what I expected

15:14

would be a significant surveillance period.

15:17

It wasn't only his crew that Joe needed

15:19

to think about,

15:20

there were others joining them on the Nemesis.

15:24

Lee requested if he could put some Australian Customs

15:26

Officers on board, as well as Australian

15:28

Federal Police. As it was a joint agency

15:31

job, I had no issue with that. And

15:33

by the next morning, about 6am,

15:36

we were back in Balmain. I briefed the New South

15:38

Wales Police crew, Australian Federal Police

15:40

and Australian Customs Officers on what

15:42

we knew, the intelligence at

15:44

hand at that time about this job.

15:47

So it was critical for me to get that boat

15:49

going north.

15:51

The police launched Nemesis set sail

15:54

early that morning.

15:56

The vessel had to get north because of the sudden

15:58

low pressure system.

15:59

So they got away shortly around

16:02

7am after the briefing on the Saturday morning,

16:04

which was the 8th of October. They

16:06

made a good time to get as far north

16:09

as they could before the weather really set in. It

16:11

did take them a day to move up there. The vessel

16:14

does travel at about 28 knots,

16:16

so it'll cover 28 nautical miles every

16:18

hour. So it was tracking northeast of

16:20

Brisbane. It also had to balance its fuel as well.

16:23

It does hold 25,000 litres of diesel,

16:26

but for a prolonged operation we like to

16:28

have plenty of fuel up our sleeve. In case the vessel

16:31

takes off, we go into a hot-to-shoot type of situation.

16:34

In the case, the vessel might have headed back towards New Caledonia

16:36

or east towards New Zealand.

16:39

We had to be in a position where we had to be capable of enough

16:41

fuel to be able to respond to that as well.

16:44

And as soon as the nemesis was launched,

16:46

the chase was on.

16:49

They knew the daughter vessel had met the

16:51

mother vessel and assumed the transference

16:53

of drugs had taken place.

16:55

They just had to figure out where the boat

16:57

was headed. The location

17:00

of the intercept was 400 nautical

17:02

miles off our coast. That

17:04

is a significant distance. That's nearly 700 kilometres. And

17:08

if we're looking at Brisbane to New Caledonia,

17:10

it was out in the middle of that zone. So

17:13

we knew the drugs were coming to

17:14

the east coast of Australia. We didn't

17:17

know if it was Queensland, New South Wales.

17:19

But later on that day, one of the yachts moved

17:21

away and started tracking southwest.

17:23

So we knew that vessel was heading towards the

17:26

east coast of New South Wales.

17:28

For Luke Wilson, who was tracking the movement

17:31

of the daughter vessel from the command post in

17:33

Sydney, its movement forward

17:35

in such bad weather spoke to the determination

17:38

of the drug smugglers.

17:40

It certainly was quite horrendous weather

17:42

conditions. And we obtained evidence from

17:44

the Bureau of Meteorology about just how bad

17:46

those weather conditions were. There

17:48

were sea warnings off the east coast of Australia.

17:51

Air Force winds up to 40 knots and

17:54

seas up to six metres. And then certainly

17:56

evidence from the police launch

17:58

captain or

17:59

the...

17:59

that vessel indicated that it was truly

18:02

horrendous weather and no sailor

18:05

should be out there unless they were out there for

18:07

a work purpose like the police launch was,

18:09

which was to stop this drug importation

18:11

from occurring. So that in and of itself,

18:14

I think, is fairly indicative of the

18:16

determination to commit this offence, the fact

18:18

that they were willing to leave knowing the sea

18:20

conditions that they would be facing.

18:23

Members of the multi-agency law enforcement

18:25

team of Operation Collage were constantly

18:28

aware that the pursuit could turn

18:30

in the blink of an eye.

18:31

They suffered while out there and I

18:34

think throughout the whole thing we were a bit

18:36

concerned that we'd have to pivot across from being

18:38

a drug importation investigation into an maritime

18:40

search and rescue operation because it

18:43

was just that perilous to be out there.

18:45

Joe shared the same concerns

18:47

and monitored the conditions closely. I

18:50

held strong concerns for my crew because I

18:52

knew what they were going through, the fatigue,

18:54

the lack of sleep, the sea sickness, the dehydration

18:58

and I could only think what the crew of the

19:00

yacht was going through as well.

19:02

We do have some care for all mariners

19:04

that say, yes, they had half a tonne of cocaine

19:06

in there but human lives were at stake as well and

19:10

the conditions were so horrendous I wondered

19:12

how they were surviving on that yacht. They were still sailing

19:15

the vessel, they were still doing their own navigation

19:17

and I was thinking their fatigue levels,

19:19

were they in danger of losing their own

19:21

lives? At one stage I thought, is this

19:24

importation going to turn into a search and rescue

19:26

mission where we change our whole

19:28

focus from surveillance of

19:31

a major organised crime syndicate

19:33

to surveillance for searching

19:35

for people in the water or searching for

19:37

loss of life at sea or man overboard.

19:40

So I had these two factors running through

19:42

my head.

19:43

At the end of the day we're there to

19:45

protect all the community, we're there to protect

19:47

life at sea. So if we can still get our

19:50

men who's importing the drugs but keeping them

19:52

alive we'll still investigate

19:54

that as well. Whether we threw ourselves

19:56

at surveillance or whether we then turned it into a search

19:58

and rescue mission.

19:59

They all factors in my thinking at the time.

20:03

Once the police launch nemesis got closer

20:05

to the target vessel, the poor weather

20:07

conditions reduced to visibility. Luckily,

20:10

the nemesis had equipment to combat

20:13

this.

20:14

The police launch nemesis has a very high

20:16

level thermal camera.

20:18

The beauty of having this technology is

20:20

we can use it to monitor vessels that

20:23

obviously we don't want to be seen from from afar.

20:25

So it gives us advanced surveillance range.

20:27

The sea conditions and the weather conditions

20:30

were tragic. We were actually horrendous

20:32

during this operation.

20:34

We had 92 kilometres of wind. We

20:37

had high sea states up to six metres.

20:39

We had low driving rain. There's

20:41

even sea fogs rolling in.

20:43

The operation was so complicated

20:46

because of the environment that this

20:48

camera was worth its weight in gold.

20:51

The camera we could actually see through some

20:53

of the rain squalls and the fog to

20:55

keep our eyes on the vessel, which

20:57

was so critical to the surveillance. These

21:00

weather conditions also hampered aviation

21:02

assets as well. So the nemesis was the

21:04

key vessel in the whole operation, tracking

21:07

what we believed to be a yacht full of cocaine.

21:11

It had taken a day for the nemesis to

21:13

locate the daughter vessel.

21:15

The yacht was around 320 nautical miles east of

21:17

Brisbane.

21:20

It had slowed down in the squall, which

21:22

meant the nemesis had to slow down too.

21:25

At that stage, the weather had set in. The

21:28

yacht was tracking in a southwest

21:31

direction, and we kind of put it towards

21:33

the mid-north coast. So Coffs

21:35

Harbour, Port Macquarie, that kind of

21:37

location. So the nemesis came into

21:39

position to monitor her. But

21:42

because the yacht was tracking at a low

21:44

speed, because of the driving horrendous conditions,

21:46

the nemesis was also going at a

21:48

very low speed. It

21:51

was going in a worst course that

21:53

you could put that vessel on. And I say

21:55

that because the seas were coming from the east,

21:57

and they were coming at a direction that would... come

22:00

into contact with the left-hand

22:02

side of the boat. So what we call that the beam. It

22:04

was a beam on sea, a six-metre

22:06

sea, and it was rolling the

22:08

nemesis right over. She is

22:11

a very substantial vessel, but the

22:13

crew got absolutely smashed. Because

22:15

the vessel was going slow, the stabilising

22:18

system on the vessel was working overtime, trying

22:20

to keep the vessel upright. So

22:22

it was doing everything it could do, that

22:25

the vessel was moving that slow, that the stabilisers

22:28

through the hydraulics were starting to overheat.

22:31

And what actually occurred,

22:34

the crew lost their steerage system

22:36

because it was running on the hydraulic engine pumps that

22:38

were supplying fluid to the stabilisers.

22:41

Also, the same pumps were supplying hydraulic

22:44

oil to the rudder system.

22:46

And it was complicated and

22:48

stressful because of those six to eight-metre

22:50

sea. So what actually happened, we had a significant

22:53

failure on the vessel at the time, and we had

22:55

to go onto one of our backup systems, which is

22:57

a battery-powered rudder system. So

22:59

the crew, for the next 18 hours, following

23:02

this vessel,

23:03

with the importance of not taking their eyes

23:05

off the price, because they knew there was drugs on

23:07

board. And any fire

23:10

in fatigue or further failure of the

23:12

vessel, we would have lost the vessel, and those drugs

23:14

would have hit the east coast of Australia somewhere.

23:16

I don't know how they did it, but it

23:18

was through sheer guts and determination,

23:22

extremely good leadership.

23:24

And for the next 18 hours, the crew

23:26

was steering the vessel manually on a button

23:28

system which supplies battery power to the rudders.

23:32

The conditions at sea were so bad,

23:35

most of those on board the Nemesis suffered

23:37

severe sea sickness.

23:39

80% of the crew went down because they

23:41

were focusing on looking down at the controls and

23:43

trying to look out. The radar was

23:46

just a blanket of white because the seas

23:48

were so huge that we couldn't use that

23:50

too efficiently. And someone at

23:52

the same time was monitoring the camera, keeping

23:54

eyes on the vessel through the camera, holding on

23:56

while they were getting pitched and rolled and thrown.

23:59

So it was a horrendous course they had to hold

24:02

and I'm just glad they were

24:04

able to hold that course because

24:06

the yacht couldn't hold the course either and

24:09

it had to turn and run and it ran

24:11

north.

24:11

So their crew would have been

24:14

getting absolutely smashed as well in those

24:16

conditions.

24:17

It's difficult to imagine how hard it would

24:19

be for the police crew to manoeuvre through such

24:22

treacherous waters without any break

24:24

from the constant pummelling.

24:26

They couldn't rest because the rolling waves

24:29

would fling them from their bunks. They

24:31

couldn't eat because the constant pitching

24:33

made it nearly impossible to keep food

24:36

down. And they also

24:38

suffered dehydration because keeping

24:40

water down was no easier.

24:43

The toll it takes on the crew and

24:45

once you get to a point where the crew are fatigued,

24:48

they can't respond, they can't make decisions,

24:50

they can't problem solve small problems.

24:53

And this was also a concern of mine

24:55

from the command post of the crew

24:57

on board being able to hold the course,

25:00

have leadership over the vessel, have surveillance

25:03

over the yacht, not losing the drugs

25:05

on board and protecting the Australian community.

25:07

Initially all signs pointed to

25:10

the daughter vessel heading back to Port Macquarie

25:12

where it had set sail from. But

25:15

that soon became impossible.

25:17

The yacht did turn at a point and

25:20

then started going north. So we identified

25:23

Port Macquarie as a location that would

25:26

enter. Now Port Macquarie was washed out.

25:28

There was no chance of getting any vessel in

25:30

or out of the river there. So

25:32

they

25:33

may have had intel coming from the shore

25:35

via satellite phones to let them know that it was going

25:38

to be impossible sailing into Port

25:40

Macquarie. And the ports further south

25:42

like Newcastle, Barr was washed

25:44

out as well. They would have had to come right

25:46

down to the Hawkesbury or into Sydney Harbour

25:48

to be successful. But

25:50

the yacht turned and it started tracking towards

25:53

Queensland and the nemesis had

25:55

to alter her course accordingly

25:57

to maintain a distance off the...

25:59

The change of direction worked well for

26:02

the Nemesis crew.

26:03

The weather was still wild, but it was

26:05

hitting the boat from a different direction.

26:08

It gave the Nemesis crew some reprieve. Yes,

26:11

we're still getting the high seas,

26:13

but the alteration of course, Nemesis

26:15

was able to position herself where she got more

26:18

sea on the quarter or the stern and lifted

26:20

her stern rather than rolled her from the side.

26:23

So this was a great relief for the crew and

26:25

allowed them to at least get some rest, a

26:27

little bit of sleep in between shifts on

26:29

the bridge

26:31

and their surveillance duties

26:33

as well. I don't think anyone was really

26:35

eating at the time because whatever went down came straight

26:38

back up.

26:39

Even with the slight reprieve, the

26:41

crew of the Nemesis were doing it tough.

26:44

The only consolation was that the two-man

26:47

crew of the daughter vessel they were following

26:49

would have been doing it tough too.

26:52

Moving into the third day, the Nemesis

26:54

and its quarry continued tracking

26:56

north.

26:57

This is day three of the operation.

27:00

The Nemesis crew had 48 hours

27:03

of fatiguing sea conditions, very

27:06

challenging to maintain a maritime course

27:08

on it, run the ship, run the surveillance,

27:11

and they were fatigued. 80% of the crew

27:13

were seasick,

27:15

but the fatigue was a concern.

27:17

They couldn't sleep.

27:18

The boat was rolling that much that any sleep

27:21

they were thrown out of their bunks continually. It was

27:23

actually quite dangerous to go below decks to get

27:25

into a bunk to be thrown out of the bunk.

27:27

So they slept by propping themselves

27:30

up in different locations of the vessel,

27:32

strapping themselves into a bunk to try

27:34

and maintain some type of sleep

27:37

pattern.

27:38

And it was concerning. It was really concerning.

27:40

And that change, of course, on day three to the

27:42

north to track back towards the Queensland

27:45

coast was a big relief. The master

27:47

on board could start to

27:48

rest his crew a little bit better. They got some longer

27:50

periods of sleep and downtime,

27:53

which eased the fatigue and

27:55

allowed them to maintain the working conditions

27:58

on the boat. And fatigue is dangerous.

27:59

dangerous at sea. It's a concern for any mariner.

28:02

When you're running a vessel that's 120 ton with

28:05

a crew on board,

28:06

you've got to understand that you're managing 10 people

28:09

as well and looking after their safety of

28:12

those mariners at sea chasing that.

28:14

And we were concerned for our customs

28:16

and our AFP office on board because this wasn't

28:18

their bread

28:19

and butter conditions. This is something without

28:21

their comfort zone. They worked extremely

28:24

well but they were also extremely ill. So

28:26

we had to manage their health as well on

28:28

this operation. But again, everyone pulled

28:30

together

28:31

because they knew how significantly important

28:33

this was to not only Australian

28:35

Federal Police but Australian Customs and getting

28:38

these crooks and getting the

28:40

drugs and having a big win for Australia.

28:43

As the nemesis tracked the daughter vessel

28:45

up the east coast of Australia, each

28:47

member of its crew had an important function,

28:50

not just on the boat, but with

28:52

the powers they brought to the investigation.

28:56

The crew consisted of 10 law

28:58

enforcement officers, six from New South Wales

29:00

Police, and those six had the maritime

29:02

qualifications for the master, the

29:05

engineering, the boarding team,

29:07

the tactical rib driver. And it was also

29:09

supported by two Australian Customs officers

29:12

and two Australian Federal Police officers.

29:14

So it gave the team some really multi-jurisdictional

29:18

punch. We had all the jurisdiction

29:20

covered with the Commonwealth agencies and the

29:22

state's capabilities.

29:24

The Customs officers and the AFP officers

29:26

gave that extension out to the Australian

29:29

Economic Zone, that 200 nautical

29:31

mile zone, but they were also an important part of the crew

29:33

for when we got back closer to the

29:36

east coast of Australia.

29:38

While the daughter vessel had continued moving

29:40

north, the land-based investigators

29:42

of Operation Collage had to move with them.

29:46

AFP Detective Inspector Luke Wilson

29:48

had monitored the dramatic sea chase from

29:50

the major incident room. While

29:53

that was happening, he was helping coordinate

29:55

the land-based assets. Wherever

29:58

the yacht landed, he stayed.

29:59

team needed to be there.

30:02

Any investigation that involves

30:04

the maritime domain is immediately

30:06

more complicated than it would be if it was land-based.

30:09

You're dealing with

30:10

weather conditions, you're dealing with variables

30:12

in terms of

30:14

the location where the boat may land.

30:16

And one of the difficulties with these types

30:18

of investigations is a vessel of

30:20

that size can literally pull up at any number

30:23

of port locations along the East Coast.

30:25

So you're trying to coordinate teams

30:27

in the field and make sure they're getting adequate

30:30

rest and breaks, but also positioned

30:33

in a correct or timely location

30:36

to be able to intervene when that vessel

30:38

arrives. It's a complicated

30:40

aspect of the operation and perhaps a little

30:42

bit more complicated than just a traditional

30:45

land-based investigation. Luke

30:48

needed to keep his ground support team on

30:50

the move.

30:51

When we do these type of operations, we would normally

30:53

deploy a police forward command post, and we

30:56

certainly had deployed one up to northern

30:58

New South Wales coast just to be in

31:00

the area ready to coordinate land-based

31:03

activities when the vessel arrived.

31:05

When it started to change route and head

31:07

towards Morton Bay, obviously we had to

31:09

take

31:10

an entire template of

31:12

the four command post, investigators, surveillance

31:14

teams, tactical units, and

31:17

effectively send them north.

31:19

And so we're playing a bit of a guessing

31:21

game and trying to predict where it may

31:23

or may not land and deploy our resources in

31:25

that area. We had investigators wake

31:27

up in the middle of the night to jump in cars and drive

31:30

north to Queensland

31:31

from their location where they were staged. And

31:33

they're

31:34

basically driving through the night,

31:37

stopping, waiting

31:38

again. So it's this on again, off again

31:40

tempo that adds to the fatigue of the

31:42

members. So yeah, at any time

31:44

you add water, it becomes infinitely more

31:46

complicated.

31:48

With the changing of direction and the

31:50

sea hitting the police launch nemesis at

31:52

a less dangerous angle, the engineer

31:54

on board was able to make some much needed

31:57

repairs.

31:58

On day three when the nemesis

31:59

stabilizers turned to the north, we had some reprieve

32:02

in the sea conditions and it allowed the stabilizers

32:05

to stop working as hard as they were to balance

32:07

the vessel.

32:09

And with the thinning oil, it became

32:11

less of a problem because we were able to cool the

32:14

oil and then we got our hydraulics back, we got

32:16

our steerage back, the rudder started working

32:18

again and then we could engage the autopilot.

32:21

Once we could engage the autopilot, we didn't

32:23

have

32:24

police physically driving the vessel on

32:26

the wheel and on the remote control.

32:28

So automatically we defaulted to

32:30

the automatic pilot system, we

32:33

allowed the satellite system to run the vessel so

32:35

it decreased our fatigue again and the

32:38

engineer was very happy that he didn't have

32:40

to keep managing the vessel in that state. So

32:42

we got our systems back online

32:44

because of the change of course and allowed us

32:46

to rest more crew at the time because

32:49

the computers and satellites were running the navigation

32:51

side of the vessel.

32:53

The chase continued, but as

32:55

the daughter vessel got closer to the coast,

32:57

that presented a whole new problem.

33:00

As we got closer to the coast, there was

33:02

more traffic even though the weather conditions

33:05

were horrendous.

33:06

We didn't want the yacht to get too close

33:08

to the east coast and then get mixed up

33:10

with maybe other vessels or small fishing

33:13

boats and the like. So the EMS has moved

33:15

into a closer position so we actually had

33:17

a close radar picture on her, we've got

33:19

two radar systems that were tracking her at the one

33:21

time.

33:22

The yacht's next course put both

33:25

it and the police launch nemesis in

33:27

great danger.

33:29

The vessel went up into Brisbane and tried

33:31

to take a shortcut in between the islands

33:33

there off Stradbroke and it's this very

33:35

small passage.

33:37

So the yacht went through

33:39

this passage and the seas were breaking

33:42

on the reefs around this small passage. So

33:44

we've got these six metre seas, the

33:47

east coast is shallowing up, it's a very

33:49

narrow passage and these six metre seas

33:51

were just dumping on the reefs either side

33:53

of it.

33:55

The yacht went through it, the master

33:57

of the vessel

33:58

had a very difficult decision to make.

33:59

make to go through such a dangerous

34:02

passage with breaking waves either

34:04

side to keep the eyes on the vessel itself,

34:07

eyes on the prize with the cocaine on board

34:09

and

34:09

he did, he made a decision to follow

34:11

it through

34:13

and they got a very short

34:15

period of approval from the sea conditions,

34:18

the swell had opened up.

34:20

As they started to enter the passage

34:22

a set of big

34:23

ocean swells had come from behind

34:26

them and they realised that the

34:29

swell was going to actually break over the stern

34:31

of the vessel so

34:32

he pulled out, he did a very sharp turn

34:35

to starboard at the time because he was in danger

34:37

of losing control of the vessel and

34:39

it was described to me as an emergency

34:41

starboard turn where the helm of the vessel,

34:44

the whirl was thrown hard over to the starboard

34:46

side, the rudders are heavily engaged

34:49

to throw 120 ton round to the right, the port engine 1500 horsepower

34:55

is thrown ahead to spin it as fast

34:57

as they can, at the same time reverse

35:00

propulsion is applied to the starboard motor

35:03

to twist the vessel round and

35:05

the electric bow thruster was thrown to provide

35:08

more steerage and push the bow

35:10

round so it could get over the top

35:12

of this horrendous wave that was bearing down

35:14

on it

35:15

and the master was just able to get

35:17

the boat round to the right where it was

35:19

able to just limp over the top of

35:21

this monstrous wave and get

35:24

through it.

35:25

Now this monstrous wave did damage the vessel

35:27

it turned it right on its side and at one of

35:29

those stages we did the props of

35:31

the vessel and one of the rudders came into contact

35:34

with the reef

35:35

but it maintained propulsion it got clear

35:37

of clear of the passage and

35:40

regrouped there was a few minor injuries

35:43

on board the vessel was still safe

35:45

but at that stage they thought they'd lost the yacht.

35:48

The nemesis moved out further to

35:50

see what they could do now from a surveillance

35:52

point of view

35:53

to their surprise the yacht

35:56

reappeared.

35:57

The yacht couldn't get through that passage either and

35:59

actually

35:59

we came back around in

36:02

the direction of the Nemesis and in

36:04

close proximity one of the radar alarms

36:07

started sounding and the crew

36:09

jumped back to attention and realised, oh the

36:11

back in the game, the yacht couldn't make it through

36:13

that passage either and I

36:15

believe it got rolled over and got turned

36:17

on its side close to capsizing

36:19

but the deep keel on the vessel was able to right

36:22

it.

36:22

So the game was still on, the Nemesis

36:24

was still in position, yeah we'd had

36:26

some damage to a prop and a rudder but we still had stearage,

36:29

we still had propulsion

36:30

and the yacht continued tracking north.

36:33

As hard as conditions were aboard the

36:35

Nemesis, the police crew marvelled

36:37

at the skills of the two men aboard the daughter

36:40

vessel as they followed it north into

36:42

Morton Bay.

36:43

We took up position again and the vessel

36:46

was now entering Caloundra and now this

36:48

is day four and a half of the operation,

36:50

the wind was still driving hard at 50 knots

36:53

and there was no vision of the vessel

36:55

because of the driving rains which actually

36:58

allowed the Nemesis to move into some of the rain squalls

37:00

and keep a closer position

37:02

of the yacht. The yacht tracked

37:04

through Brisbane shipping channels

37:06

as it entered through that, missing a few tugs

37:09

and some outbound ships.

37:10

Monitoring from the command post, Lee

37:13

Forsyth heard one last drama

37:15

play out. The daughter vessel

37:17

when it rounded Morton Bay, I don't

37:19

know if they had enough local knowledge but they actually

37:22

cut the corner and there was shallow water and

37:25

they went across a sandbank where

37:27

they should have gone around it and almost

37:29

ran aground and so they

37:32

were potentially in a bit of difficulty then and

37:34

the Nemesis virtually came right up over

37:37

the top of it and the guys on the daughter

37:39

vessel actually radiated

37:41

out on Channel

37:44

16 just if there was some assistance and

37:47

the Nemesis was a bit concerned with we

37:49

had to turn fro quickly, will we go to answer and

37:51

potentially give ourselves away or just

37:54

ignore it but by the time we decided

37:56

no we'll just call them back and find out if they

37:58

need any help they'd actually got

37:59

themselves out of trouble and were in

38:02

the lee of the island then.

38:04

With the daughter vessel finally safe and

38:06

anchored, the police moved into place.

38:09

On the evening of the 11th,

38:11

the daughtership arrived in Morton Bay and it

38:14

made its way into an area called

38:16

the Scarborough Marina and Harbour.

38:18

It's a small sort of mariname,

38:21

typically people using recreational vessels

38:23

and those sort of things moored there

38:25

and they stayed there overnight and I believe

38:28

that was because they were resting having been

38:30

on this quite perilous journey.

38:32

As soon as the yacht set anchor, law

38:34

enforcement on sea and land moved

38:36

in to surround it. The

38:38

nemesis moved into position to

38:41

have surveillance overnight and was joined

38:43

by an Australian customs patrol boat

38:45

as well with probably similar characteristics

38:48

of camera systems

38:50

and we watched and monitored that all night. Now

38:52

the wind was still up but there was no sea

38:54

so the crew were able to get a bit of sleep, a bit of rest

38:57

and a bit of food until first

38:59

light and that's when there was movement

39:01

on the yacht. The AFP had moved in

39:03

and surrounded the marina and the location

39:05

so between the customs patrol

39:08

boat and the police launch nemesis we

39:10

were maintaining that maritime corridor

39:12

so nothing could get through that

39:14

corridor and the AFP were on land

39:17

looking at the movements from there.

39:19

After the fatiguing days on the move

39:21

for the land and sea crews, a night

39:23

of rest was just what everyone needed

39:27

but the surveillance team still had the daughter

39:29

vessel in their sights.

39:31

For all the police knew the yacht

39:33

might have been met overnight by another

39:36

vessel. It was 1am

39:38

in the morning both the police

39:40

vessel nemesis moved into position and

39:43

the Australian customs vessel moved

39:45

in position as well to provide that maritime

39:48

corridor protection of

39:50

the drugs and of the criminal network. We didn't

39:52

know if there were other vessels in

39:54

the syndicate that were going to go and pick up the drugs from

39:57

the yacht and then take off in a high speed runabout

39:59

or something.

39:59

or anything like that. So we had to be mindful

40:02

of that. Yes, it was still blowing 50 knots

40:04

and it was driving rain.

40:06

But criminals with a prize like that

40:08

of nearly half a ton of cocaine on board would

40:10

do anything to protect that cargo.

40:12

That cargo is highly valuable. So

40:15

we were maintaining, we're using all our equipment

40:17

on board to protect the vessel and the cargo

40:20

from an interception. And also

40:22

while the AFP was on land, covering

40:24

the land side,

40:25

we were pretty confident that the drugs were

40:27

secure, the criminals were still on board and

40:30

it was as safe as it could be for

40:32

an investigation. In the

40:34

early hours of the morning, around first light, there

40:36

was movement from the yacht and two

40:38

of the suspects went into the marina

40:41

there.

40:42

The movement of the men to the marina suggested

40:44

the drugs would be transferred to the shore

40:47

rather than picked up by another boat.

40:49

From the command post, Luke was

40:52

monitoring the movements.

40:54

The next morning, about 7.40, our

40:56

surveillance officers observed the

40:59

two males from the boat coming ashore

41:01

and a tender and they attended the office

41:03

of the Scarborough Marina.

41:05

They inquired at the marina about

41:08

booking a night of berthing for their vessel.

41:10

And they also made mention about having

41:13

to perform some repairs to the vessel.

41:15

We think that those repairs were, as a result

41:17

of the storm damage they sustained.

41:19

They also asked the staff at the marina about

41:22

a nearby shopping center in the suburb of Kiparing.

41:25

And they asked whether it was busy and how far

41:28

away it was from the Scarborough Marina.

41:30

The

41:30

staff gave them a map showing

41:33

them the location of the shopping center.

41:35

And there were also doing some inquiries made by

41:37

the two males from the boat about the amount

41:39

of time it would take to travel to the Gold Coast.

41:42

They then got back in their tender and

41:45

sailed back out to the Dorta

41:47

vessel and they were there for a period of about

41:50

half an hour or so.

41:52

To prove importation charges, the

41:54

drugs have to land in Australia.

41:56

So even though the investigators of

41:59

Operation Collage...

41:59

had the two men and a yacht loaded

42:02

with cocaine in their sights.

42:04

That wasn't enough.

42:06

One of the complications with the importation

42:08

investigations is that we have to show there

42:11

was an intention for the drugs to enter into

42:13

Australia. It's not merely enough

42:16

to detect the vessel in Australian

42:18

waters and say that that was

42:20

the intention, unless we have our other evidence to

42:22

show that was their intention to land it

42:24

in Australia. And at that point we didn't know

42:27

who was on the vessel and we couldn't

42:29

point to any particular evidence that would

42:31

establish

42:33

that to the standard required. So

42:35

there was a decision made in consultation

42:37

with our legal team to allow

42:39

the vessel to land and to

42:42

demonstrate their intention to offload the

42:44

drugs into the Australian community.

42:46

With that comes an additional element

42:48

of risk because we have to maintain

42:50

control of that vessel

42:53

and the people on board and ensure that the

42:55

drugs aren't lost into the community or

42:57

that we don't lose coverage of the boat

43:00

and those suspected drugs on board.

43:03

But what it does also allow us the opportunity

43:05

to do is by letting it run a little bit further

43:07

is to identify other parties that may

43:09

be involved in the criminality and to

43:12

trace it through a little bit further than

43:14

just those initially involved in the importation.

43:17

Once the drugs hit the shore there is

43:19

also the potential to arrest shoreside

43:22

offenders.

43:23

We were pretty confident there would be

43:25

a shore party. To move a large amount

43:27

of drugs off the boat into

43:29

the community you'd need a fairly

43:32

decent sort of vehicle or some other help

43:34

from other people. So it

43:36

was forefront in our mind that there would be

43:38

another party helping with this importation.

43:41

But up until the stages where the boat had arrived

43:44

we hadn't identified anyone who we particularly

43:46

thought was involved.

43:48

Soon the two men on the daughter vessel

43:50

were on the move again. They

43:52

then brought the daughtership alongside at

43:54

the marina and birthed it.

43:56

They got off the boat and they were

43:58

observed carrying two duffel boots.

43:59

bags in total. And

44:02

then they hired a taxi and took that

44:04

taxi to the shopping center. Once

44:07

they were there, they attended a cafe and

44:09

a short time later they were met by two other

44:11

males who

44:13

subsequently we determined one of those

44:15

males was the shore party that they were intending

44:17

to meet. There

44:19

was a short conversation there about lunchtime

44:21

that day. And then shortly after

44:23

they jumped into two vehicles and departed

44:25

the area. So in one of the vehicles

44:27

was one of the crew members and the shore party.

44:30

And the second vehicle was another male.

44:33

Working on the assumption that the two men

44:35

had taken drugs to the shore and the duffle bags

44:38

and that they had indeed met with their

44:40

land based contacts, the operation

44:43

could come into its arrest or interdiction

44:46

phase.

44:47

About that time we decided that that

44:49

had obviously reached the safe limits

44:52

of the investigation. And so the

44:54

investigation supervisor called

44:56

the job to resolution and at that point the

44:58

two vehicles were stopped and the occupants were

45:00

arrested.

45:01

Luke and the team in the Sydney command

45:04

post waited to hear the results of the

45:06

search.

45:08

That goes for some period of time while you're waiting

45:10

to hear whether the vehicle's search has been commenced

45:12

and what's been located and up until that point

45:15

you're not really sure whether anything

45:17

illegal has been found.

45:20

And so there is that sort of nervousness in the

45:22

command post while you're waiting to hear the

45:25

outcome of that. We were advised shortly

45:27

after the arrest that they opened the two bags

45:29

and they'd found a large quantity of cocaine.

45:32

One bag contained 25 one kilogram

45:34

blocks

45:35

and the second bag contained 21 kilogram

45:38

blocks. So it was approximately 45 kilos

45:40

of cocaine found within the vehicle

45:43

with one of the crew members in the shore party. So

45:45

that was a pretty significant find. And

45:48

I guess at that point you can breathe a bit easier

45:50

knowing that you've have actually located some

45:52

of the drugs. A short time later

45:55

our tactical teams boarded the boat at the

45:57

Scarborough marina and that's where they located

45:59

the remainder

45:59

of the drugs, roughly 350-something

46:01

kilos of cocaine.

46:05

In more recent years, much bigger

46:07

seizures have taken place. But

46:09

back then, the amount of cocaine

46:11

the police found in Operation Collage

46:13

was one of the larger drug seizures they

46:16

had seen.

46:17

I think we're all a bit surprised,

46:19

really, that it was 400-odd kilos

46:22

of cocaine. At that time, it was

46:24

a very, very large implantation

46:26

and would have accounted for a fairly

46:28

substantial amount of the yearly consumption of cocaine

46:31

in Australia. So, to

46:33

have found that much cocaine and to seize

46:35

that safely without any other person

46:38

being injured, it was such a successful outcome.

46:41

With the shore team arresting the two yachtsmen,

46:44

the crew aboard the nemesis were officially

46:46

off duty.

46:48

The crew and the New South Wales Police Festival

46:50

nemesis were absolutely fatigued.

46:53

They were at the end of their working

46:55

limits. They'd done their job well. They'd

46:57

kept their eyes on the cargo and the criminals

47:00

for five days at sea.

47:02

So, they were done. They were spent. They

47:04

needed to be relieved. They'd done it successfully

47:06

through some of the most challenging sea conditions they've

47:09

ever experienced in their careers. And

47:11

now, they were happy to hand it over to the Australian

47:13

Federal Police and the Australian Customs

47:15

Service for the investigation to be

47:17

continued and

47:18

then move into their arrest phase. I

47:20

said, to go up north into Brisbane

47:23

River, arrange to berth them, refuel,

47:25

and I said, sleep. Sleep as long as you want

47:27

and we'll reconvene. Their job was

47:29

done. The cargo was in Brisbane. The

47:31

AFP were there to take that hand

47:34

over from the nemesis

47:35

crew. The drugs were intact.

47:38

No one had died. We hadn't lost anyone

47:40

at sea. I was very confident the next

47:42

phase would just run smoothly and that's exactly

47:44

what happened when the AFP took over.

47:46

The crew of the nemesis headed off for some

47:49

well-deserved arrest.

47:50

They made some minor repairs to their boat

47:53

and most importantly, slept.

47:56

But it turned out their job wasn't

47:58

quite done yet. At

48:00

the command post in Sydney, the people

48:02

from customs had noticed that the mother

48:04

vessel hadn't moved from its position

48:07

off the coast.

48:08

They asked Joe if the NSW

48:11

police launch would investigate.

48:13

I spoke to the master of the vessel and

48:16

checked in on him first and the crew and see

48:18

how they were

48:19

and if they were sleeping and getting some good rest. And

48:22

then I asked him, I said, oh, we've got another job for you.

48:24

I want you to consider going back

48:26

out and having another crack and taking out the other vessel,

48:29

the mother ship. He said, we're pretty fatigued.

48:30

I said, yeah, I know, I know.

48:33

But this sergeant I knew had the leadership that

48:35

would motivate the crew. They

48:37

were still enthusiastic and there was still a job

48:39

to be done.

48:40

So the seas had abated, the winds had

48:43

abated, they'd had a bit of rest and sleep

48:45

and they went back out. They got

48:47

another 20,000 litres of fuel, because the nemesis was right

48:49

down on fuel and

48:50

they started heading east towards the vessel.

48:52

They left the part of Brisbane, the shipping channel

48:55

and we're on a good course doing that 20 knots heading

48:58

east. They

48:58

got out about 100 miles off the coast and

49:01

then Customs Maritime Border Command had

49:03

another vessel placed for an interdiction

49:06

and then they relieved the nemesis and we handed it back

49:08

to Australian Customs Service. The

49:10

crew were quite happy. While they were motivated and

49:12

enthusiastic to have another go, they were still fatigued.

49:15

So they were happy to set a course south back

49:17

to Sydney where I met them a day

49:19

later.

49:20

When the customs vessel approached the mother

49:23

vessel, they radioed back to the command

49:25

post.

49:26

Something strange was happening.

49:29

Lee remembers getting the message.

49:32

That information was relayed to us from

49:34

the vessel as it was approaching. They said

49:36

they're throwing stuff over the side.

49:38

So they quickly netted that stuff

49:41

up and picked it up. First of all, the ghost

49:43

show you is that they probably got more narcotics

49:46

on board to see this big boat, they're just going to

49:48

leave it over the side. But

49:50

as it turned out, it was just papers and milk

49:52

cartons and those sorts of things, something

49:54

that you would think is pretty innocuous.

49:57

Bit strange to be throwing it over then, you would think.

50:00

the strong points

50:02

of the AFP is their investigation

50:04

techniques later. That stuff

50:07

that was thrown overboard that was retrieved

50:09

ended up being vital in being

50:11

able to link

50:13

crew on the mother vessel with the

50:15

shore ciders in that

50:17

there was a receipt that was found on the

50:19

vessel pertaining to a fruit

50:22

or a delicatessen shop somewhere

50:24

in inner Sydney.

50:25

The receipt tied the two vessels together.

50:29

Luke and the AFP team followed

50:31

up on the lead.

50:52

The

50:56

food items that had been described

50:58

on that receipt

51:00

from the Sutherland Shire fruit shop.

51:02

I was a somewhat junior investigator so I was

51:05

tasked to go out and see this fruit shop

51:07

and see what evidence could be retrieved and as

51:09

it turned out they had a very good digital

51:12

CCTV system and

51:14

I was able to retrieve the CCTV

51:17

of the crew of the daughtership attending

51:20

that fruit shop

51:21

and purchasing those particular items and

51:23

in fact the quality was so good that

51:25

you could see each food item being placed on

51:27

the conveyor belt and paid for

51:30

in the same order on which was available on the receipt.

51:32

So it was very good evidence that they

51:34

had purchased this food with the intention of transferring

51:37

it to the mothership

51:39

and the importance I guess of that evidence is

51:41

that there is a hypothesis that

51:43

could be argued that these two vessels

51:45

just happened to be in the same vicinity

51:48

around the time of the handover and that

51:50

it wasn't in fact the mothership

51:52

that had

51:53

transferred the drugs but that

51:55

transfer of food items that were

51:57

only available in Australia and were very powerful.

52:00

perishable was good evidence to show

52:02

that,

52:02

circumstantially, that those vessels had in

52:05

fact met at sea and that items had been

52:07

transferred across.

52:09

The AFP investigators were lucky.

52:12

A day later, and at the fruit shop CCTV

52:15

would have been erased. When

52:17

I was downloading the CCTV, I looked

52:19

across into the bottom corner and realised that

52:21

it was almost at the 14-day limit

52:24

of the CCTV storage.

52:26

And it was actually in the process of about

52:29

to be written over and as CCTV

52:31

systems do, when they reach the

52:34

maximum time frame, it was lucky that we happened

52:36

to get there in time and were able to save

52:38

the CCTV before it was lost.

52:40

Normally, what would happen is we would have

52:43

tasked our digital forensics unit to go

52:45

and retrieve that CCTV.

52:47

And because of the time frames and the fact that

52:49

it was leaving the system as I was there,

52:51

I basically just got a USB

52:53

drive and downloaded it myself. I

52:56

had no other option and luckily were able to

52:58

secure it before it got overwritten.

53:00

For Detective Inspector Dave Kraft

53:02

working with the team in Canberra, they

53:04

were able to get a head start on identifying

53:07

the offenders on the boat using surveillance

53:09

photographs even before the men

53:11

were arrested.

53:12

We will refer to the men as the first

53:15

and second offender. We

53:17

were able to identify one of the people on

53:19

board that vessel from photographs that were

53:21

obtained. So we had a fair

53:23

idea of who was involved in this. So then

53:26

we start looking at the wider picture. OK,

53:28

well, where is that person from? What

53:30

is their network? Where do they reside?

53:33

What's their financial status? Do

53:36

they have links to organised crime? Are

53:38

they the intended recipients? Are they just purely

53:40

doing the importation on behalf of someone

53:43

else?

53:43

Dave and the team gathered as much information

53:46

as they could around the offenders. I

53:49

had more of an idea about the second

53:52

offender and that was purely based off of

53:54

photographs. So we were able to

53:56

sit here in headquarters and look at the image from that

53:58

vessel. and literally go

54:00

through AFP indices

54:03

and match that person. So we were confident

54:05

that that was the second offender. In regards

54:08

to the first offender,

54:10

it really became evident once we

54:13

explored those linkages to that vessel. So

54:15

we had a fair idea of who was

54:17

involved from there and we could

54:20

again start looking at that intelligence picture

54:22

of, okay, well, who are these people and what

54:24

have they been involved in in the past? And obviously

54:27

with that first offender, he had quite

54:29

an interesting history himself, particularly

54:32

in the maritime industry and some of

54:35

the alleged incidents that he'd been involved in

54:37

in the past. When the offenders

54:39

were arrested, Dave was involved

54:41

in a search of the second offender's property.

54:44

It turned out to hold potential dangers

54:47

to law enforcement personnel. When

54:49

we did arrive, I think it was about 10 or 11 o'clock

54:52

that night, premises appeared derelict.

54:54

There was no power switched on.

54:56

We initially approached the premises,

54:59

entered it, was unsecured.

55:01

There was a detached garage as part

55:03

of that house also, which had a speed

55:06

boat, a large amount of other personal

55:08

equipment, yard equipment, et cetera. There

55:11

were

55:12

containers in there that we inspected, which

55:15

ultimately led to the identification

55:17

of equipment that was used in clandestine

55:20

labs for the production of methamphetamine.

55:23

And that obviously threw a spanner in the works

55:25

for us, given the health risks and

55:27

the dangers associated with any chemicals

55:30

and

55:30

equipment that's used in that process. So

55:32

at

55:33

that point, you can imagine at 11 p.m.

55:35

at night and finding that, we literally

55:37

just had to say tools down,

55:40

notify our New South Wales police

55:42

counterparts who

55:43

kindly assisted in having their

55:45

hazmat teams from Sydney

55:48

come down the following day to process

55:50

that equipment and render it safe before we

55:52

could even continue looking in that

55:54

detached garage.

55:56

Given the week-long ocean pursuit

55:58

of the drug importers,

55:59

What were Dave's impressions about the house

56:02

one of them had purchased?

56:04

It was clear that someone had put a

56:06

lot of money into that house, but it was clear that someone

56:09

also potentially had run out of money. And

56:11

that was the picture that we certainly gained from

56:14

New South Wales police.

56:16

Locally, that second subject was known

56:18

to have engaged with contractors in

56:20

the area that he would readily pay cash,

56:23

but that that cash had run out. So

56:26

when you look at that and the alleged

56:28

conduct that he's involved in, it certainly makes

56:30

a lot of sense as to what his motivation

56:32

was. But the house itself was

56:34

on the side of a hill overlooking the water, beautiful

56:38

gum trees around it. I can remember standing

56:40

out on his deck at sunrise first

56:42

morning,

56:43

thinking

56:44

what a beautiful spot if someone could

56:46

finish this house and really

56:48

turn it into something special. But

56:50

unfortunately it wasn't to be for him.

56:58

What was the reality of

57:00

those caught up in the drug trade? It

57:03

may bring you riches temporarily, but

57:05

the minute you're caught, you can't enjoy

57:08

your house on the waterfront from a prison

57:10

cell. The offenders

57:12

in Operation Collage were each sentenced

57:15

to 20 years in prison.

57:17

The street value of the cocaine was

57:19

estimated to be $240 million.

57:24

After the seizure, the cocaine was sent

57:26

to a secure facility where it was documented,

57:29

analysed and weighed. In

57:31

the end, it was destroyed as

57:34

hazardous waste. If

57:37

you are interested in learning more about how

57:39

the AFP works to protect Australians

57:42

and how Luke, Dave, Lee and Joe

57:44

investigated this case, visit

57:47

afp.gov.au. And

57:51

that's a wrap on Season 2 of Crime

57:53

Interrupted, an AFP and

57:56

Casefile Presents podcast written by

57:58

Vicky Petradis.

57:59

We hope that, like us,

58:02

you have learnt a lot about how the AFP

58:04

investigated and interrupted the

58:06

most serious of crimes.