Australian police have arrested three men after discovering more than 800kg of cocaine on a ship off the coast of Fremantle in Western Australia.
Authorities estimate the drugs would've been worth an estimated AU$320 million (NZ$348 million).
The investigation began after authorities were tipped off to "a plot for an illicit consignment of drugs to be dropped in the ocean off the West Australian coast" for an Australian-based organised crime syndicate to pick up.
Authorities were investigating bulk cargo ships when they were called to assist three men on a 10m boat in distress on May 24.
Suspicions were first raised when Australian Federal Police (AFP) discovered the boat — named "No Fixed Address" — had been bought with cash just hours before the men set out. The men also appeared to have "limited" boating experience.
The huge haul of cocaine was seized from a container ship off the coast of Western Australia. (Source: 1News)
Meanwhile, authorities grew suspicious of a bulk cargo ship that had travelled from South America, the AFP said in a statement.
When the bulk cargo ship was searched, dozens of packages were found submerged in a water tank, with each containing "numerous one-kilogram blocks of a white powdered substance". Forensic tests returned positive results for cocaine.
The purity of the seized drugs is still being tested.
The three men were arrested on Wednesday. Two were taken into custody in Perth, while the third was apprehended in Sydney as he tried to board an international flight, police said.
Police allege the men, aged 21, 25 and 29, had gone out in the 10m boat to collect the drugs.
One of the men, the 21-year-old, is a Lithuanian national.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Pryce Scanlan said "the illicit drug supply chain is littered with violence".
"Had this amount of cocaine made its way to Australian streets, it would have spread through our suburbs fuelling more violence, crime and drug addiction," he said.
"The community needs to be aware that their illicit drug use bankrolls violent transnational serious organised crime groups, who may also be involved in other abhorrent crimes."
Australian Border Force (ABF), Western Australia Police Force (WAPF) and AFP officers were all involved in the investigation.
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