Published 15:35 IST, September 13th 2019
Angry seal helps Australian police bust international drug ring
A huge seal after getting angry due to constant disturbance helped the Australian police to find out about an ongoing international drug smuggling ring.
- World News
- 3 min read
A huge seal, after getting angry due to constant disturbance, helped the Australian police to find out about an ongoing international drug smuggling ring. According to the Australian media, police seized huge amount of drugs which included cocaine, ecstasy, and methamphetamine. It was a British and a French national who was found hiding on the island on September 3. Their yacht had hit the island reef . After the news of hiding was reported the information about them smuggling drugs took the center stage.
Angry seal blocks the way
The two men, Antoine Dicenta, who is a resident of France and Graham Palmer, from Britain, were located on the island towards the west of the town of Geraldton. They were stuck on the island as the angry seal had blocked their way. Eventually, the rescue operation which was launched after the yacht was found led the police to the smugglers, as reported by the Australian media.
The pair arrived at the island with the assistance of an inflatable dinghy and had purportedly shrouded the drugs under some ocean growth. After the smugglers realized that their hiding place has been discovered, they decided to escape only to be obstructed by a big, huge seal. Damien Healy who is a police officer of the Geraldton Volunteer Marine Rescue Service told the international media that, the guys disturbed the sleeping seal, which happened to bellow at them. He added, they had the choice of either getting arrested or facing the seal and they choose to walk away with the police.
Huge amount of illicit drugs found
After the arrest, the police said ab estimate of $688,000 of illicit drugs were discovered on the island. In the meantime, three more people appeared to testify in front of the court. These three men included a British, an American and an Australian man. They were apparently the ‘shore party’. Chris Dawson, the Commissioner of the Western Australian Police said to the media that, “the three -- named as Jason Lassiter (45), Scott Felix Jones (35) and Angus Bruce Jackson (50) -- were allegedly the shore party" who were "ready to receive" the drugs, as per a local news website.
Big international drug haul
According to the UK’s National Crime Agency, they have busted a big international drug haul. Michelle Roberts who is the Police Minister termed it as a "colossal" drug haul. They told the media that they are unaware of the actual destination of the drugs but some of them were to be transported to the West Australian community.
Updated 19:56 IST, September 13th 2019