Last week Australian police seized 2.7 tonnes of cocaine estimated to be worth A$816m (ST$1.4 million) – country’s largest ever such bust – from an underground bunker system in western Sydney.
At the time it was reported that two young men aged 21 and 25, who attempted to flee from police were arrested at the scene.
The pair have been identified as Andrew Whata Fepulaei, 21, and Kristian Faiumu, 25.
The two Samoan were arrested and charged with possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug. The were remanded in custody after appearing before a NSW Local Court. Both are due to front court again in August. The young men face life in prison if convicted.
The drugs were found on Friday 20 June 2026 in compartments concealed beneath false floors in three shipping containers at a property in Londonderry, west Sydney. The drugs were hidden in underground bunkers concealed by false floors within three shipping containers near the rear of the property.
Police say the cocaine was smuggled into Australia via the small town of Midge Point in North Queensland on the orders of an organised crime group.
The raid on the Londonderry property was part of “Operation Minjiang” launched in May this year after 40kg of cocaine was found floating in the water off a boat ramp at Midge Point.
Another six people in Queensland and New South Wales were arrested and charged as part of investigations sparked by the find, police said last week.
The record cocaine shipment is said to have entered Australia via the Solomon Islands, highlighting a growing fear the Pacific is a soft target for drug trafficking.
The cocaine shipment was said to be Australia’s – and the entire Pacific region’s – largest-ever recorded seizure of cocaine.
The cargo ship that had transported the cocaine haul from Belize in Central America to its Australian destination has since been detained in Solomon Islands on the orders of Australia Federal Police.
The AFP Investigations command believed the seizure suggested a “significant organised crime syndicate” was behind the importation.
The latest case lands at a dangerous moment for Pacific policing.
Small Pacific Island states have become increasingly vulnerable to transnational drug trafficking and the region is emerging as a transit corridor for narcotics moving into Australia and New Zealand.
Pacific law and order officials say seven “narco-submarines” have been found across the region within the past two years, four of them in the Solomon Islands.
In Samoa, Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt declared war on drugs when he took over as Prime Minister.
Samoa Police have made over 200 arrests in the last six months and all public servants including Parliament and Cabinet are being asked to undertake drug tests.
Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa has committed to eradicating drugs in Samoa and blames previous administrations for not takthe drug problem in Samoa was allowed to fester when action should have been taken a long time ago.
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