Three NSW men have been charged over an alleged 500-kilogram import of cocaine into regional Queensland.
The alleged massive drug haul is estimated to be worth more than $162 million and had the potential to facilitate more than two million individual street deals.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said three men were arrested on Sunday at a regional boat ramp after allegedly collecting 500kg of cocaine from a larger cargo vessel at sea.
A Morisset Park man, 66, a Charlestown man, 45, and a Lake Macquarie man, 27, faced Gladstone Magistrates Court yesterday and were remanded in custody.
The AFP launched Operation Ocean to investigate the alleged importation of illicit drugs into Queensland.
Police arrested the men when they returned to shore in an 8.2m fishing boat at the Boyne Island boat ramp, about 24 kilometres south of Gladstone.
The AFP searched the vessel and allegedly found 15 black and yellow waterproof bags that each contained about 32 blocks of a powdered substance.
Police said each block weighed about one kilo.
The substance returned a presumptive positive result for cocaine.
Further forensic testing will determine the exact weight and purity of the drug.
The AFP executed search warrants at a motel in Tannum Sands and the residential premises of the men in Newcastle and the Central Coast of NSW.
A further search warrant was executed on a vessel anchored in the Port of Gladstone.
The three men were charged with one count of possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug.
The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
The three men are next scheduled to face Gladstone Magistrates Court on July 19.
