This boat smuggled tonnes of drugs into a remote Qld boat ramp

Why a remote north Qld boat ramp became the centre of an international drug seizure investigationBy Aimee Mitchell, Yasmine Wright Gittins and Bryn WakefieldABC Tropical North Link copiedShareShare articleUnder the cover of night, two boats made their way through the calm waters of the Coral Sea towards the north Queensland coast. On board were 3.1 tonnes of cocaine and methamphetamine. The Midge Point boat ramp, where police allege the drugs were smuggled in. (Supplied) After leaving a larger mothership allegedly anchored in deep water, the tender boats entered the southern end of Whitsunday Passage, passing groups of tropical islands. The tide was rising by the time they arrived at the remote Jimmys Rock boat ramp at Midge Point, 100 kilometres north of Mackay. A record 2.7 tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated street value of $816 million has been seized at a semi-rural property in Greater Western Sydney. Waiting at the boat ramp was a flatbed truck with a crane on the back ready to lift cargo nets loaded with packages of drugs, which the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has since valued, conservatively, at $904.9 million. Also at the boat ramp were locals, concealed by mangroves and bushland, quietly taking a photo of one of the tender boats, which they supplied to the ABC. In the photo, a boat's registration number is obscured by paint, and a lone figure is visible in the wheelhouse, which has radar equipment mounted on top. One of the tenders police say transported the drugs onshore. (Supplied) The AFP verified the photograph was of one of two boats involved in the import, but said the tenders had not been located. Presumably, unloading the drugs didn't go completely to plan. When dawn broke on Saturday, May 30, locals spotted two large packages, later revealed to contain a total of 40 kilograms of cocaine. Emergency services found the packages after they were called to a flatbed truck on fire. (Supplied: Queensland Police) One package was floating among the rocks and the other lay on the mangrove mud, either dropped in the dark or abandoned in haste as early-morning boaties arrived to take advantage of the high tide. By 8am, the truck was alight and police and volunteers from the Midge Point Rural Fire Brigade were called. Police found a burnt flat-bed truck at the Midge Point boat ramp. (Supplied: AFP) Queensland Police Acting Chief Superintendent Troy McAllison said the truck was believed to have been set on fire to destroy evidence. Three weeks later, police seized 178kg of cocaine and 142kg of methamphetamine in Brisbane, which they allege originated from the Midge Point import. The Queensland Joint Organised Crime Taskforce seized 178kg of cocaine and 142kg of meth, with a combined estimated street value of $100 million. (ABC News: Charlie McLean) This was followed by the discovery of a further 2.7 tonnes of cocaine hidden under false floors of a shipping container on a semi-rural property west of Sydney. Speaking after the Western Sydney find, the AFP said it was the largest ever cocaine bust in Australia, adding that, while drugs traditionally came across the Pacific, in this case, they possibly came through North Asia. A police officer with trolleys full of cocaine seized in Western Sydney this month. (Supplied: AFP) Police have detained the alleged mothership, the 98-metre-long Belize-registered cargo ship MV Wealth, in Solomon Islands for further investigation. Sheltered by the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsunday coast is a haven for calm sailing. More than 160km out to sea, cargo ships traverse the deep-water shipping channel, Hydrographers Passage, to reach Queensland's ports. The boat ramp is at the end of a gravel road. (ABC News: Yasmine Wright Gittins) Jimmys Rock boat ramp is a 10-minute drive from the abandoned, once-luxury Laguna Quays five-star resort. It's also a short drive from Midge Point, which has no police station and is home to about 435 people. Despite the rough, dirt-road access, it's only 16km to the Bruce Highway, and is popular with night-time fishers chasing barramundi, mangrove jack, crabs and squid. Looking toward the boat ramp from Jimmys Rock Road. (ABC News: Yasmine Wright Gittins) With big tides of up to 5 metres, arrival and departures are carefully timed to avoid boats becoming stranded in the estuary at low tide. Neil Brooks, owner of the Midge Point Tavern, said, like many other locals, he was surprised to hear about the drugs being smuggled through their "quiet little fishing village". Neil Brooks is the publican at the local tavern. (ABC News: Yasmine Wright Gittins) "Maybe they thought it was a place they could sneak in and sneak out." The Midge Point tavern. (ABC News: Yasmine Wright Gittins) Mr Brooks said the lack of a breakwall at the ramp made it dangerous to launch at times, but it was still a popular spot for local boaties. "I think they obviously picked a time when no-one was down there using it," he said. Foll

This boat smuggled tonnes of drugs into a remote Qld boat ramp

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