After 365 kg drug haul, Australia cops suspect the men they rescued, praised weeks ago; launch hunt
The three men were rescued off the coast of Western Australia | Australian Maritime Safety Authority
Australian authorities have launched a hunt for the three men they had rescued from the sea two weeks ago,after they found 365 kg cocaine in parcels six days later. The trio was rescued by authorities off the coast of Western Australia on February 1. When rescued, the three men had claimed they were fishing when their boat sunk. The police had then praised the trio by pointing out that their survival from off the sea coast "highlighted the importance of wearing a lifejacket and carrying an emergency beacon".
However, after the drug haul, the police now allege that the men were part of an international drug cartel and have appealed to them to turn themselves in.
The drug hauland a strange tale of caught and lost
On February 7, six days after the three men were rescued, a black plastic-wrapped package containing parcels of cocaine was found on a beach 54km (33 miles) west of Albany, Australian media reported.
ALSO READ |Cocaine worth $300 million with batman stickers found floating in New Zealand
Police believe the drugs were collected from the ocean and were ferried to the shore in a boat.Detectives have now asked the public to help locate Mate Stipinovich, 49, and Karl Whitburn, 45, from Perth, and 36-year-old Aristides Avlontis, who is thought to be in the Northern Territory.
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Authorities said that the seizure of the drugs would deal a "significant blow" to a "well-resourced syndicate".
ALSO WATCH |Christmas themed police seize record amounts of cocaine ahead of the holiday season
They also estimate that this seizure of the drugs "saved the community more than $235mn in drug-related harm, including associated crime, healthcare, and loss of productivity."
Last year in March, the authorities recovered a 700 kgcocaine shipment at a New Zealand port, coming fromSouth America, bound for another country, suggestingthat the drug traffickers are assessing it as a viable route to other markets.
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