Australian Customs - Deterrent to Visiting Oz ?

[dana-tenacity]

Ah Tasmania, the little furry triangle beneath the soft underbelly of Australia.

[boden36]

Off topic, but in Aussie slang, a woman's pubic hair is termed her "Map of Tasmania".
Regards,
Richard.

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by boden36

Off topic, but in Aussie slang, a woman's pubic hair is termed her "Map of Tasmania".
Regards,
Richard.

You don't hear that one much. Probably really hard to compete with Brazil

[SimonV]

Ahhhhhh the map of Tazzy....so whats happening is this going to be some sort of Aussie high jack.

[TassieBloke]

I was wondering how long before someone would pipe up about the so called map of Tassie, and what it actually means in our slang

@ Simon: Yup, thread seems to have been completely hijacked, I mean, when it's all said an done, what is more important than the map of Tassie?

@ Hoppy: See above. Since when is that no longer important?

@ Ozskipper: Cascade car wash...thems fightin' words mate

Well, I'm off to start another thread. I think the Mods might jump in just about now ;-)

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by TassieBloke

I was wondering how long before someone would pipe up about the so called map of Tassie, and what it actually means in our slang

@ Simon: Yup, thread seems to have been completely hijacked, I mean, when it's all said an done, what is more important than the map of Tassie?

@ Hoppy: See above. Since when is that no longer important?

@ Ozskipper: Cascade car wash...thems fightin' words mate

Well, I'm off to start another thread. I think the Mods might jump in just about now ;-)

Ahh.. but if we call it the "chart" of tassie we will be staying on topic :-)

Also whats more important than a "Chart" of Tassie? Cascade it appears lol

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by cat man do

While remaining incredibly lax themselves?

Looks to me I just casually sail into a US port, make a phone call say, "I'm here" and get directed somewhere for inspection

LOL..... it is... until you do it... then the '**** hits the fan...'

[downunder]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

You don't hear that one much. Probably really hard to compete with Brazil

Definitely struggling to compete with Brazil these days and Boags having trouble heading Caipringa's also.

[Wand]

Seems these marineros weren't deterred... Ouch!


Police seize 300kg of cocaine and $3.5 million cash


Australian Federal Police and Customs officers swoop on a boat at the Bundaberg Port Marina on Saturday morning, after about 90kg of cocaine was found in a car pulled over the night before. Photo: Max Fleet/Bundaberg News Mail

An international sting has ended with the seizure of 300 kilograms of cocaine in Bundaberg and boxes of cash in Sydney worth upwards of $3.5 million.

Four Spanish nationals have been arrested and Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Kevin Zuccato, the national manager for serious and organised crime, said police believed one of them to be ‘‘very high up’’ in an international syndicate they had investigated since February.

Mr Zuccato said the cocaine has a wholesale value of $78 million, but on the street it would sell for ‘‘much, much more’’.

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Police estimated street value to be about $400 a gram, pushing the value of the 300 kilogram haul up to $120 million.

‘‘There is certainly an appetite for cocaine,’’ Mr Zuccato said,

‘‘This shows it doesn’t matter where (criminals) go, or what they do, Australian law enforcement will catch up with them.’’

After the yacht was raided, police also launched weekend raids on a Gold Coast address, where they allegedly found $290,000 in cash, and a Bondi address where they found five boxes of cash that were still being counted. The current count is at about $3.5 million.

The nine-month operation began in February, when the AFP noticed large amounts of money being moved offshore and began a money laundering investigation.

The investigation, code-named Operation Avalon, eventually brought together the AFP, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the Queensland Police Service and authorities in Vanuatu.

In September, the ACBPS flagged a yacht called Friday Freedom, moored at Port Vila in Vanuatu and scheduled to sail to Australia. They believed the yacht had connections to a crime syndicate.

Mr Zuccato said Friday Freedom was sailed from Vanuatu to Australia by a 35-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman, who arrived in Bundaberg on October 20.

In a move he called ‘‘very patient’’, the yacht sat in the marina for three weeks before their partners in Sydney and Gold Coast made a move.

‘‘An individual from Sydney received some information and decided they were ready to go,’’ Mr Zuccato said.

‘‘They had been communicating with the people on the boat, three weeks is a long time to wait.

‘‘They were very patient.’’

Last Thursday, the 38-year-old man allegedly drove from Sydney to the Gold Coast where he stayed at the residence of a 39-year-old man at Surfers Paradise.

Mr Zuccato said they drove from the Gold Coast to Bundaberg the next morning and boarded the yacht.

The pair had hired a Corolla and a Pajero and allegedly left the boat with about 100 kilograms worth of cocaine in two suitcases.

They loaded the suitcases into the cars and started to drive away.

‘‘That is when the decision was made to move in on them for security reasons,’’ Mr Zuccato said.

Police arrested the two men driving away and the two people on the Friday Freedom before they moved the yacht to a dry dock to be searched.

They allegedly found more cocaine, which had been wrapped in black tape and plastic to keep it dry and stored in the hull of the boat.

Mr Zuccato said police were interviewing the foursome and believed the 38-year-old to be a kingpin in the international crime syndicate.

‘‘This is really only the beginning of investigations,’’ he said.

Police believe the cocaine originated from South America and they are not sure where exactly where it was destined once it was taken off the yacht, but police believed it had no connection to Schoolies Week.

The cocaine will be forensically examined before being burnt in industrial incinerators.

‘‘This operation demonstrates that the AFP, with our international and domestic partners, has the capability, resources and commitment to successfully detect and dismantle the most sophisticated organised crime groups,’’ Mr Zuccato said.

‘‘The AFP seized 796 kilograms of cocaine last financial year, an increase of 103 per cent on the previous year.

‘‘As long as organised crime groups target Australia we will continue our efforts to disrupt their activities and arrest those who seek to bring harm to the Australian community.’’

[VirtualVagabond]

Sounds like there'll be a yacht coming up for auction soon.
The only problem is, how long will it take before all traces of drugs have gone.
Imagine getting worked over by police, customs and sniffer dogs until then!

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

Sounds like there'll be a yacht coming up for auction soon.
The only problem is, how long will it take before all traces of drugs have gone.
Imagine getting worked over by police, customs and sniffer dogs until then!

Yeh,, that could pose a problem. Plus it will be tagged most likely. Its probably only good for doing twilights at the local yacht club now. Forget going offshore for the next few years lol

[AussieGeoff]

Just saw it on the news, very nice boat. I'm guessing I know where they got the money to buy her...

I hope they don't have any travel plans for the next, oh, ten years or so.

AussieGeoff

[TassieBloke]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

Sounds like there'll be a yacht coming up for auction soon.
The only problem is, how long will it take before all traces of drugs have gone.
Imagine getting worked over by police, customs and sniffer dogs until then!

A few months ago I went over a lovely lovely NZ built 55' aluminium sloop in NSW that was seized by the Fed's about 6 months before (drugs). What a fracking mess those a$$'oles made It was clear the method of choice to remove wood panelling was a crowbar, instead of a power screwdriver. The broker told me that this will take 2-3yrs before the boat comes on the market, and as Ozskipper said, after that, don't bother taking her offshore for a while...

Bloke

[SimonV]

As the boat is evidence it will be kept until all parties have been tried, found guilty and all apeals have been finalized, no maintanance or care will be taken of the boat, it may stay in a marina or moved to a secure hard stand.

[ozskipper]

Anyone got any images of the boat yet?