Two brothers with alleged links to international organised crime have been charged over a complex drug importation plot involving 80kg of cocaine. The men appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday (2 April, 2025) after the AFP arrested them earlier in the day. One of the men, 38, from Seabrook, was remanded in custody to reappear in court on 23 July, 2025, which his brother, 32, from Sunshine, was released on bail to face court on the same day. In early March, 2025, the AFP identified that a ‘rip crew’ – allegedly linked to the brothers – was looking to target a shipping container being held at the Port of Melbourne. A ‘rip crew’ is a group of professionals hired by criminal syndicates to retrieve illegally imported drugs from high-security areas. The AFP worked with the Australian Border Force (ABF) to identify and inspect the crew’s target container. ABF officers allegedly found more than 80kg of cocaine and two GPS trackers hidden inside the shipment of industrial machinery. The AFP removed the illicit drugs and substituted them with an inert substance before returning the container to the shipping yard on 9 March, 2025, to allow for covert surveillance. On 10 March, 2025, two men, dressed in black clothes and balaclavas, allegedly broke into the precinct with bolt cutters and retrieved the inert substance before absconding in a car. On 2 April, 2025, the AFP executed search warrants in the Melbourne suburbs of Seabrook, Sunshine, Dallas and West Melbourne. Police seized multiple mobile phones, blocks of the substituted illicit consignment, a high-powered rifle, two pistols, ammunition, various quantities of drugs, drug paraphernalia, cash and jewellery. The cocaine had an estimated street value of about $32 million with the potential to equate to 40,000 individual street deals, had it reached the community. Inquiries into the ‘rip crew’ remain ongoing and further arrests have not been ruled out. AFP Detective Superintendent Simone Butcher said the result demonstrated the patterns and behaviours of criminal syndicates in the drug trafficking trade. “The use of a rip crew by the syndicate demonstrates how criminals employ other criminals as part of a dark underworld of illicit enterprise,” Det Supt Butcher said. “Trafficking cocaine and other illicit drugs destroy lives, damages communities and fuels violence. “Criminals are indifferent to the harm they cause and will go to great lengths to fill their pockets. “The AFP and its law enforcement partners are relentless in the pursuit to put drug traffickers before the courts to face justice.” ABF Superintendent Dan Peters said the ABF remained highly vigilant of organised crime looking to circumnavigate Australia’s border controls. “Criminal enterprises are known to utilise extensive networks whose reach extends on a large international scale,” Supt Peters said. “The unfortunate fact for these criminals is that beyond their own peripherals exists a far-reaching network of intelligence sharing law enforcement agencies able to respond to such threats in a swift and decisive manner. “The safety of the Australian community remains our top priority, and along with our partner agencies, we will bring to justice those seeking to do harm both within and beyond our border.” 1 April 2025 Source: AFP
