Cocaine bricks: Major breakthrough as Daniel Wayne John Roberts is arrested over alleged botched importation where drug packages washed up along NSW coastline
- Cops claim cocaine bricks breakthrough
- Arrest the accused leader of smuggling ring
- READ MORE: Five more cocaine bricks worth $1m wash up
Police have arrested the alleged ringleader behind an apparently botched smuggling operation which saw 900kg of cocaine bricks wash up along Australia's east coast.
Australian Federal Police officers allege Daniel Wayne John Roberts is the Australian leader of international drug traffickers who failed to pick up the illegal shipment.
In the weeks that followed, countless mysterious plastic-wrapped bricks were found on the shoreline all along the NSW coast as they drifted on the tide.
On Wednesday, police swooped on an address in Brisbane's northern suburbs where Roberts, 36, was arrested and will appear at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.
He faces seven charges relating to the importation of commercial quantities of drugs and dealing in the proceeds of crime, with maximum sentence of life in jail.
The Aspley man was also charged with a further 12 offences of using violence and threats to collect debts and intimidate rivals by engaging criminal associates to assault, firebomb, shoot at and extort his customers.
Police believe they have arrested the Australian ringleader behind a botched drug importation that left 'bricks' of cocaine washing up on the eastern coastline
AFP Detective Superintendent Adrian Telfer speaks to media during a press conference about the arrest at AFP Brisbane Headquarters in Brisbane
The first of the tightly-wrapped and taped packages of cocaine was found on the NSW central coast's Magenta Beach in December when police opened the barnacle-encrusted outer plastic to find 39 'bricks containing 39kg of cocaine.
Over the festive season seven separate packages of around 7kg of cocaine were discovered on Magenta Beach, Pelican Beach, Blacksmith Beach, Avoca Beach, Pentaloon Bay and Manly's North Steyne Beach.
A fisherman reeled in a blue barrel containing a further 39 individually wrapped 1kg bricks of cocaine on Boxing Day before handing it over to police.
Large packages containing the tightly wrapped bricks appeared along the Sydney coast and as far north as Newcastle late last year
Later that day, a member of the public found 39 more individually-sealed 1kg bricks on rocks near Newcastle Ocean Baths and also handed that over to police.
The cocaine bricks have been branded with labels including Tesla, Zoe and R-Z.
Earlier this month, the cocaine was still turning up on NSW beaches, with five more - estimated to be worth $1million - found by lifeguards on Sydney's Freshwater and Curl Curl beaches.
So far about 256kg of the suspected 900kg has been seized by NSW Police Force after washing up on the shore.
'There was understandably community concern when cocaine washed up on beaches – beaches where our children play, swim and eat,' said AFP Superintendent Adrian Telfer.
'The AFP and our partners dedicated a significant amount of resources to ensure we kept the public safe and brought those allegedly responsible before the courts.'
Detectives allege Roberts used dedicated encrypted communication platforms to contract out drug pick-ups and to conceal his criminal activities from police.
It is alleged he used the handles WANTED and John Dillinger, the same name as the notorious US gangster during the Great Depression.
The AFP will also allege the man played a significant role in importing almost two tonnes of cocaine in just three ventures in the past year, which have an estimated total street value of $683 million.
