Australian police sized 1,650 pounds of South American cocaine packed beneath different compartments on a luxury yacht in Vanuatu, The Huffington Post reported.
The $330 million worth of drugs were found on Monday in Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, after Australian police enacted "Project Cringle," an operation set up with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and Australian Customs, to target criminal organizations from drug trafficking. Authorities announced the drug bust on Friday.
There have been no arrests yet and no one was on board at the time of the raid by authorities. David Cali, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Senior Attache, said they are still investigating and praised the operation.
"Organized crime syndicates should know that we are prepared, willing and able to combine our skills, resources and efforts to target them," he said.
The Huffingpost Post notes that due to their stable economy, the international drug market has flourished in Australia. With the help of international forces, the Australian police believed they'd have a better chance of stopping the criminal networks.
"We are well aware that international criminals see Australia as a lucrative market for their drugs, but we will continue to work closely with our partners to identify syndicates such as these," said Ramzi Jabbour, Assistant Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.
Since 2010, nearly two tons of cocaine have been seized on their way to Australia due to cooperation between international authorities from the U.S., Australia, Vanuatu, Tonga, the Cook Islands, and New Caledonia. In November 2012, 200 kilograms of cocaine was found on a yacht in Tonga -- as well as a decomposing body -- and another 200 kilograms on a yacht by New Candonia earlier this year.
There were two drug seizures in Queensland,in 2010, which netted a total of 760 kilograms of the drug.
The recent bust a part of Project Cringle is the largest one to date.
