NEWSAR
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SRCThe Guardian - World News
LANGEN
LEANCenter-Left
WORDS367
ENT12
SUN · 2026-06-21 · 22:22 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-0622-86244
News/Almost three tonnes of cocaine found buried under Sydney pro…
NSR-2026-0622-86244News Report·EN·Legal & Judicial

Almost three tonnes of cocaine found buried under Sydney property in Australia’s biggest ever seizure, police say

Australian federal police have made what they describe as the country's largest ever cocaine seizure, discovering 2.7 tonnes of the drug buried in underground bunkers at a property in Londonderry, west of Sydney. The operation, part of a joint investigation, led to the arrest and charging of two men, aged 21 and 25, for possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug.

Guardian reportersThe Guardian - World NewsFiled 2026-06-21 · 22:22 GMTLean · Center-LeftRead · 2 min
Almost three tonnes of cocaine found buried under Sydney property in Australia’s biggest ever seizure, police say
The Guardian - World NewsFIG 01
Reading time
2min
Word count
367words
Sources cited
3cited
Entities identified
12entities
Quality score
100%
§ 01

Briefing Summary

AI-generated
NEWSAR · AI

Australian federal police have made what they describe as the country's largest ever cocaine seizure, discovering 2.7 tonnes of the drug buried in underground bunkers at a property in Londonderry, west of Sydney. The operation, part of a joint investigation, led to the arrest and charging of two men, aged 21 and 25, for possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug. Police allege the cocaine, with an estimated street value of $816 million, was imported into Australia near Midge Point, Queensland, and transported to Sydney for an organized crime group. The investigation began after 40kg of cocaine was found off a boat ramp in Midge Point, and a suspected "mother vessel" has been detained in the Solomon Islands. The two arrested men have been remanded in custody.

Confidence 0.90Sources 3Claims 5Entities 12
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Article analysis

Model · rule-based
Framing
Legal & Judicial
National Security
Tone
Mixed Tone
AI-assessed
CalmNeutralAlarmist
Factuality
0.90 / 1.00
Factual
LowHigh
Sources cited
3
Well sourced
FewMany
§ 03

Key claims

5 extracted
01

The cocaine was imported into Australia near Midge Point, Queensland.

factualPolice
Confidence
1.00
02

The cocaine had an estimated street value of about $816m.

statisticPolice
Confidence
1.00
03

Two men aged 21 and 25 have been arrested and charged.

factualPolice
Confidence
1.00
04

The seizure is Australia's biggest ever cocaine seizure.

factualAustralian Federal Police
Confidence
1.00
05

Australian Federal Police seized 2.7 tonnes of cocaine.

factualAustralian Federal Police
Confidence
1.00
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Full report

2 min read · 367 words
The AFP say they have made Australia’s biggest ever cocaine seizure of 2.7 tonnes of the drug at a property west of Sydney. Photograph: Australian Federal Police View image in fullscreen The AFP say they have made Australia’s biggest ever cocaine seizure of 2.7 tonnes of the drug at a property west of Sydney. Photograph: Australian Federal Police Almost three tonnes of cocaine found buried under Sydney property in Australia’s biggest ever seizure, police say Australian Federal Police arrested and charged two men after allegedly finding 2.7 tonnes of cocaine in ‘bunkers’ under shipping containers Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Police have made what they say is Australia’s biggest ever cocaine seizure, uncovering 2.7 tonnes of the drug buried in secret bunkers at a property on Sydney’s western fringes. The seizure was made by the Australian Federal Police on Friday at a semi-rural property in Londonderry. Two men aged 21 and 25 have been arrested and charged with possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug. Police allege they found the drugs in plastic tubs buried in underground bunkers concealed beneath three shipping containers on the property. They said the cocaine had an estimated street value of about $816m, equating to about 3 million “street-level deals”. Police allege the cocaine was imported into Australia near Midge Point in north Queensland and brought to Sydney “at the behest of a Sydney organised crime group”. The seizure was part of Operation Minjiang, a joint investigation by the AFP alongside Queensland-police" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="150239" data-entity-type="organization">Queensland police, the Australian Border Force and other agencies. It began after 40kg of cocaine was allegedly found in the water off a boat ramp at Midge Point on the Whitsunday Coast. An alleged “mother vessel” suspected to be part of a drug importation enterprise, MV Wealth, has been detained in the Solomon Islands. The two men arrested on Friday appeared before a NSW local court on Saturday and were remanded in custody. They are next expected to appear before Penrith local court on 13 August. Explore more on these topics Australia news New South Wales Queensland Sydney news Share Reuse this content
§ 05

Entities

12 identified
§ 06

Keywords & salience

8 terms
cocaine seizure
1.00
drug importation
0.90
organized crime
0.80
australian federal police
0.70
sydney
0.60
underground bunkers
0.50
shipping containers
0.40
operation minjiang
0.40
§ 07

Topic connections

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