{"id":321848,"date":"2022-07-22T13:51:29","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T03:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=321848"},"modified":"2022-07-25T16:43:04","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T06:43:04","slug":"colombian-link-to-durong-arrests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/07\/22\/colombian-link-to-durong-arrests\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombian Link To Durong Arrests"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Buckets containing the alleged cocaine suspended in another substance at the Durong shed (Photo: AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 22, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two men – including a dual Spanish-Colombian national – were due to appear in Kingaroy Magistrates Court on Friday charged over their alleged connection to a criminal network importing and manufacturing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine.<\/p>\n

The pair, 48 and 38, were arrested at a rural property in Durong overnight.<\/p>\n

Police will allege a purpose-built cocaine extraction shed had been built on the property under the direction of a Colombian organised crime syndicate.<\/p>\n

An Australian Federal Police spokesperson said nine people were arrested across Queensland, the Northern Territory and NSW overnight and charged with a variety of serious drug and money-laundering offences carrying maximum penalties of up to life imprisonment.<\/p>\n

A man whom the AFP will allege directed the Australian activities of a Colombian-based organised crime group was arrested in Darwin.<\/p>\n

It will be alleged the man, 33, received instructions from overseas about a shipment of cocaine smuggled into NSW.<\/p>\n

A multi-state AFP operation then tracked the cocaine, which was suspended in another substance inside plastic buckets, from Sydney to the Durong property.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Five men and a woman were arrested on Thursday night in Queensland, including the two men at Durong.<\/p>\n

Police will allege they were extracting and manufacturing commercial quantities of cocaine.<\/p>\n

Another man, aged 35, was arrested at his Gold Coast home, while a 31-year-old man was arrested at his Brisbane residence on charges related to organising and facilitating the operation.<\/p>\n

Police will allege 700kg of cocaine could have been produced.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old man allegedly helped organise the construction of the Durong extraction facility and used suspected criminal proceeds to pay for items the syndicate required to make it operational.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A western Sydney man, 38, was arrested north of Newcastle as he drove back to Sydney from Queensland.<\/p>\n

When AFP officers searched his utility they allegedly found about 11kg of cocaine hidden inside two small fridges.<\/p>\n

The AFP also arrested a 33-year-old Spring Hill man in Brisbane who allegedly collected the drugs from the Durong property to provide to the courier travelling to Sydney.<\/p>\n

A 32-year-old woman was arrested at her Brisbane home where police seized more than $1 million in cash that police will allege are the proceeds of crime.<\/p>\n

One of the men arrested in Durong is a dual Spanish-Colombian national, 48, who flew to Australia and allegedly teamed up with a Colombian-born Sydney man, 38, as the chemical specialists responsible for extracting the cocaine from the substance it was hidden in.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The AFP spokesperson said the investigation began with the Colombian-born Sydney man, known to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

This man picked up the Spanish-Colombian dual national from Sydney Airport on May 18, and their subsequent activities led investigators to suspect they were involved in illegal activity.<\/p>\n

The two men travelled to the Gold Coast in late May, meeting with the Gold Coast man who allegedly organised the construction of the facility at Durong.<\/p>\n

After AFP officers arrested a Darwin man, 33, outside a gym on Thursday evening, they executed a search warrant at his home and allegedly seized thousands of dollars in cash, electronic devices and steroids. They also seized a 7.8-metre boat, suspected to be an instrument of crime.<\/p>\n

The AFP is investigating if the vessel was acquired to collect illicit drugs dropped at sea hundreds of kilometres off the Northern Territory coast.<\/p>\n

A Gold Coast man, 30, was also arrested in Darwin and charged over his alleged involvement in the manufacturing operation.<\/p>\n

Investigations are continuing into the exact circumstances of how and when the cocaine was imported into Australia.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Six men – aged 48, 38, 35, 33, 31 and 30 – have been charged with conspiracy to manufacture a commercial quantity of controlled drugs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Spring Hill man, 33, has been charged with trafficking a commercial quantity of controlled drugs.<\/p>\n

A western Sydney man, 38, has been charged with supplying a large commercial quantity of prohibited drugs, namely cocaine.<\/p>\n

A woman, 32, has been charged with knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime.<\/p>\n

The nine people will appear in various courts in Queensland, NSW and the Northern\u00a0 Territory over the next few days.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UPDATE:\u00a0Alexander Villegas Jaramillo, 38, and Fabio Fernandez Pulgarin, 48, appeared in Kingaroy Magistrates Court on Friday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Neither applied for bail and both were remanded in custody until October 17.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Inside the alleged purpose-built cocaine extraction facility at Durong (Photo: AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Chemicals seized by police at the alleged Durong cocaine extraction facility (Photo: AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Refrigerators allegedly seized by the AFP in the back of a utility which was driving back to Sydney from Queensland
(Photo: AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Stacks of cocaine allegedly located inside the utility (Photo: AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two men – including a dual Spanish-Colombian national – were due to appear in Kingaroy Magistrates Court on Friday charged over their alleged connection to a criminal network importing and manufacturing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":321854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,24],"tags":[150,1132],"yoast_head":"\nColombian Link To Durong Arrests - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two men - including a dual Spanish-Colombian national - were due to appear in Kingaroy Magistrates Court on Friday charged over their alleged connection to a criminal network importing and manufacturing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2022\/07\/22\/colombian-link-to-durong-arrests\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colombian Link To Durong Arrests - 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