The information came from Australia, where a person wearing a high-tech diving suit was found dead in the waters of New South Wales next to an overseas cereal ship called “Areti GR”, and at the same time 50 kilos were found of cocaine. Of course, the death and the origin of the substance are being investigated, as is a businessman who was trying to flee to Singapore. The extra fact is that the ship was at the Renova port terminal, in Timbúes, at the beginning of April. Immediately, plots began to be woven linking the possibility that the drug would leave Argentina, but reports also came out that would give that chance away.
The Argentine Naval Prefecture practically ensured the impossibility of the cocaine shipment leaving the port of Santa Fe and the explanation appears very simple. At least for what is expressed in the web portal “Pregón, la Voz de San Lorenzo”, where they explain: “It is striking that it could have been done here because the method that is believed to be used is of a very high degree of difficulty and professionalism, since It involves placing drugs below the surface of the water, from the outside to the inside of the ship. And that in turbid waters with strong currents like ours (of the Paraná River) visibility is a great impediment”.
Another issue that was explained was that “all ships that navigate Argentine waters are controlled and monitored through a system that the Prefecture has in terms of navigation safety until they leave the country.”
Likewise, the “Areti GR” that left the port of Santa Fe also passed through the port of La Plata and the information from Australia does not clarify whether the drug was being unloaded or loaded, nor is the actual quantity clear.
And this happened last Sunday, the 8th of this month, when customs personnel from the city of Newcastle inspected the ship from the Marshall Islands. She arrived loaded with 60,000 tons of soybean meal that she had loaded at a port terminal in the Industrial Cordon, according to the newspaper oceanicinsight.com.
In addition to this fact, the arrest of a businessman who intended to travel to Singapore, known as Mr. Blee, 62, was reported. The arrested suspect is called James Blee, who fell in Far North Queensland when he was trying to catch a plane to Singapore on Wednesday afternoon. He was charged with importing and supplying drugs, according to the Australian newspaper abc.net.au. The man had $17,000 with him and only had a one-way ticket.
Meanwhile, investigators believe the original shipment of drugs to Newcastle weighed up to 300kg, with a retail value of $120m. But only 100 kg would have reached Australian waters. Detectives now believe the remaining 200kg may have ended up in Indonesia.
The Diver’s Find
According to the publication of the Australian media, port personnel immediately called the local police after spotting an unconscious diver on the coast that same Monday morning, near the moorings of the grain ship.
While the diver was declared dead, despite attempts to revive him, at the scene the police noticed that the body belonged to a foreign citizen, who was dressed in a neoprene suit and wore high-tech diving equipment that divers usually use. more experienced.
The diver is believed to have lost consciousness and died while trying to collect blocks of cocaine from the hull of the grain ship that arrived from Argentina last Sunday. According to the portal oceanicinsight.com, two small boats approached the cereal ship the night before the discovery of the body and the content of cocaine, hence the presumption that it was an attempt to collect the substance, which was found wrapped in packages yellows.
What is striking, and which gave rise to an in-depth investigation, is that so far only 50 kilos of cocaine (actually 54) have been seized from the scene, valued at US$13.8 million. However, according to the information provided by the local portal, it is estimated that this figure could reach a total of US $ 70 million of that substance, whose origin is being investigated and if it was indeed inside the ship.
Last Monday, divers searched the entire perimeter of the 656-foot vessel to try to find a chest that would have been attached to the ship’s deck. They also boarded the ship again to interview the crew in order to determine if the finding fits into a drug trafficking case.
46 kilos in circulation
Meanwhile, it is estimated that some 46 kilos of cocaine (which would complete the 100 kg that would have arrived in Newcastle) are already circulating in the streets. Meanwhile, police are looking for another diver, as well as information about an inflatable boat seen in the area.
“There are obviously more people involved than the dead man,” NSW Police Superintendent Rob Critchlow said.
In this regard, they published images of a couple believed to be related to the diver found dead. The man is of “South American appearance of 1.78 meters, while the woman is between 1.50 and 1.60 meters. Both illegally entered a boat, but it was not specified which one.
The causes of death of the diver and the subsequent abandonment of his body are also unknown, because it is not believed that he was alone.
On Tuesday, police divers were planned to return to the ship to further inspect the hull. Meanwhile, police continue to canvass local dive shops and ask for the public’s help in locating anyone who may have purchased this advanced riding gear in recent days. A review of police databases yielded no results in identifying the deceased.
At the same time, investigators are on the trail of another seizure of 179 kilos of cocaine in the port of Java, Indonesia, which could be connected to this smuggling.
Discussion about this post