A remote-controlled robot has helped uncover a 200kg shipment of cocaine stashed in the hull of a ship which arrived in Port Melbourne from Argentina last month.
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Australian Border Force officers used the underwater vehicle to search the vessel below the waterline, finding the drugs in the ship's sea chest, where water is pumped in and out of the ballast tanks.
Specialist divers from Victoria Police Search and Rescue Squad retrieved packages, which were seized by Federal Police. They carry an estimated street value of $80 million.
AFP Commander Richard Chin said illegal packages were regularly stashed in such areas and posed a serious risk to drug smugglers when they attempted to retrieve them.
"This concealment method is not new, and this seizure is another case of law enforcement remaining one step ahead of criminals attempting to bring harmful, illicit drugs into our country and into our community," he said.
Earlier this year, the body of a diver police believe was attempting to recover drugs stashed in a similar fashion was recovered in the Port of Newcastle.
ABF Commander Clinton Sims said organised crime groups regularly used parasitic hull attachments on commercial ships to move drugs across borders.
"In response, the ABF is utilising submersible remote operated vehicles to enhance our ability to conduct mass screening of shipping vessel hulls and void spaces to detect below-the-waterline concealments of illegal drugs," he said.
Once the drugs were seized, the ship and crew continued from Victoria to Western Australia, and then back to South Australia.
Police are urging anyone with information about the drugs or who noticed suspicious activity at ports in any of the three states to come forward.
"It could be something small from an unusual boat purchase paid in cash, through to suspicious activity at one of our ports," Cmdr Chin said.
Australian Associated Press
