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| The drugs were hidden in the hollow hydraulic lifting arm of the excavator. © Australian Border Force |
An enormous stash of cocaine weighing 384kg has been found hidden inside a 20-tonne Caterpillar
excavator which had been shipped to Australia from South Africa.
The huge haul was spotted by the Australian Border Force after the machine was X-rayed at the Sydney Container examination facility in June. The bust led to two significant arrests on Sunday as police swooped down on the suspected smugglers in the sleepy town of Bungendore in New South Wales.
The drugs were likely destined for the cities of Melbourne and Canberra as well as for ski resorts in the aptly named Snowy Mountains.
Border Force officers found hundreds of 1kg cocaine packages concealed in the hollow hydraulic lifting arm of the excavator. The drugs have a street value of $144 million AUS ($101 million).
After the discovery the machine was patched up by authorities who then carried out a “controlled delivery” of the Trojan excavator to its intended destination. Police units then swarmed a building in Bungendore on Sunday morning, arresting two men.
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