Australian Police Found More Than 500 LBS Of Cocaine In A Seized Yacht

Photo: Australian Federal Police

Geez, you try to party one time in Australia, and the police will lock you up and steal your yacht. At least that’s what happened to two Australians who were allegedly caught with a little cocaine. And by “a little,” we mean they stuffed more than 500 lbs of it into the hull of their yacht. So yeah, they’re probably going to have a hard time convincing a judge that it was just for feeding the sharks.

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According to the Guardian, the 545 lbs of cocaine the police found in the hull has a street value of $61 million. That may sound like a lot, but remember, that’s in Australian dollars, so that works out to only about $41 million in the U.S. Two suspects, Matthieu Anthony Rees and Rachid Kachour, have been arrested.

When police arrived at their apartment in Townsville City, Queensland, one of the men allegedly threw a backpack over the balcony that ended up containing close to $200,000 in cash ($290,000 Australian). So they weren’t exactly slumming it.

According to police, the two men brought their cocaine-stuffed yacht to Townsville in April after visiting Vanuatu. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where they got the cocaine. Police impounded the yacht after an initial inspection, and once it was out of the water, they noticed “minor anomalies” in the hull, which later ended up being where they hid the cocaine. It’s possible that more will come out as their cases progress, but for now, there isn’t a to of information to report.

Both have been charged with “importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and dealing in the proceeds of crime worth $100,000 or more.” Additionally, Kahour has been charged with “failing to comply with an order to provide access to digital devices.”