Australian authorities have announced the country’s largest seizure of cocaine, with officials recovering three tons of the drug on a property near Sydney. The discovery was made on June 19 at a semirural site in Londonderry, a suburb on the western edge of the city, according to the Queensland Joint Organized Crime Taskforce.

The cocaine was concealed in plastic tubs buried within underground bunkers beneath three shipping containers. These containers were modified with false floors, providing covert access to the narcotics. Authorities estimate the street value of the seized cocaine at approximately AUD 572 million.

Two men, aged 21 and 25, both residents of Sydney, were arrested at the scene. They face charges related to possessing a commercial quantity of illicit drugs, which carries potential life imprisonment sentences.

This seizure surpasses Australia’s previous largest cocaine bust, when 2.58 tons were found in 2024 aboard a fishing vessel near K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) off the coast of Queensland.

Officials indicated that the cocaine in the current case was shipped by sea to Midge Point, a remote area in tropical Queensland. From there, it was allegedly transported overland by a Sydney-based organized crime group across approximately 1,100 miles to the New South Wales capital.

Law enforcement suspects this shipment originated from the same “mother ship” involved in a recent seizure of 392 pounds of cocaine in Queensland. That investigation has resulted in six people being charged in connection with both the cocaine and a separate seizure of 313 pounds of methamphetamine.

Authorities continue to probe the broader network behind this large-scale drug trafficking operation, with efforts focusing on dismantling the distribution routes and organizational structures facilitating the importation and transportation of illicit substances across state lines.