The Australian Federal Police have seized 2.7 tonnes of cocaine from a semi-rural property at Londonderry, in Greater Western Sydney, describing it as the largest cocaine seizure in the country’s history. Officers found the drugs on Friday 19 June in plastic tubs buried inside underground bunkers, beneath the false floors of three shipping containers at the rear of the property. The AFP puts the estimated street value at about $816 million, equal to roughly three million street-level deals. Six people have been charged, and the investigation is continuing.
The Seizure
A search warrant was executed at the property on Friday 19 June, and investigators saw disturbed earth beside one of the containers, the AFP says. The cocaine was packed in plastic tubs and buried inside underground bunkers, beneath false floors built into the three containers at the rear of the semi-rural block. The force set out the concealment detail when it announced the seizure publicly on Monday 22 June, three days after the search. At 2.7 tonnes, it is the largest cocaine seizure recorded in Australia, according to the AFP.
Operation Minjiang
The seizure sits inside Operation Minjiang, which began in May when officers at Midge Point, in North Queensland, responded to reports of a burnt-out flatbed truck at a boat ramp and found 40kg of cocaine in the water nearby. Police allege the cocaine seized at Londonderry entered Australia near Midge Point and was taken to Sydney. Earlier seizures in the operation totalled 178kg of cocaine and 142kg of methamphetamine, and arrests were made in Queensland. With a Brisbane seizure linked to the same importation, ABC News puts the combined figure at 3.1 tonnes and a potential value above $1 billion. The suspected mother vessel, MV Wealth, remains detained in the Solomon Islands. The operation is run by the AFP and the Queensland Joint Organised Crime Taskforce, and the two detailed the seizure and the charges on the Monday.
The Charges
Six people have been charged in total. Two men, aged 21 and 25, from Plumpton and Liverpool, face a charge of possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug under section 307.5 of the Criminal Code (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Police say the two men were arrested after allegedly fleeing on foot. They appeared in a NSW Local Court on Saturday 20 June, were remanded in custody, and are next listed at Penrith Local Court on 13 August. A 32-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman from Petrie face attempted-possession charges, listed for Brisbane Magistrates Court on 31 July, and a 24-year-old man from Green Valley, extradited to Queensland, is listed for the same court on 18 September.
None of the accused has been named. Each charge is an allegation that has not been tested in court, and every person charged is presumed innocent. The property owner has not been charged at this stage, AFP Commander Stephen Jay said, as reported by ABC News.
What the Police Say
Commander Jay said criminals “go to extreme lengths, and often risk their own lives, to smuggle drugs into Australia”. He said: “Let these arrests serve as a warning to those criminal syndicates.” He also described the scene, saying investigators “observed a large quantity of disturbed earth right next to this shipping container”.
Queensland Police Detective Acting Chief Superintendent Troy Pukallus said the result “has removed a significant quantity of cocaine and methamphetamine from the criminal market”. Australian Border Force Commander Troy Sokoloff said criminal syndicates should be on notice: “law enforcement agencies are working together”.
The Investigation Continues
Investigations into the origin of the drugs are continuing, and the AFP says the alleged Sydney organised crime group behind the local end of the importation remains under investigation. The court dates already listed for the accused run through August and September, and the charges are now before the courts.
Sources: Australian Federal Police, media release on the Londonderry seizure and Operation Minjiang, 22 June 2026; ABC News, “Police seize record-breaking 2.7 tonnes of cocaine in western Sydney”, 22 June 2026; BBC News, “Largest ever cocaine bust in Australia after police raid”, 22 June 2026
Photo: Chris.sherlock2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Illustrative: The Northern Road at the Londonderry and Llandilo boundary in western Sydney, photographed in 2023. The seizure was at a semi-rural property in the district; this photograph shows the locality and is not of the property, the scene or any person involved.
