A report about the Australia Border Force (ABF) releasing a rogue container vessel used for smuggling has appeared in today’s Daily Telegraph, with comments also appearing on the website of Senator James Paterson, the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs.
Details of the failure to grab the MV Nami’s illegal cargo has been confirmed by both the ABF and NSW Police.
The ship, carrying more than two tonnes of illegal tobacco – worth up to $300m – was intercepted by police off Newcastle in January, but was allowed to sail free after the ABF decided they could not seize the cargo or bring the vessel into port.
ABF have confirmed they asked NSW Police on 01 January to board it after they observed the boat lingering off Australian waters, “thousands of kilometres off course,” just before Christmas. They suspected it might have been involved in the smuggling of illegal drugs believed to be cocaine.
On New Year’s Day, the MV Nami was about a 100kms offshore south of Newcastle and the NSW Police vessel Nemesis, along with officers from the ABF, boarded the ship and uncovered more than two tonnes of tobacco and cigarettes.
The captain declared the tobacco, but would not say where it was destined and said there were no plans to come into an Australian port. The ABF claimed they could not seize the tobacco because no crime could be proven and that the MV Nami was free to continue sailing.
Enquiries revealed the vessel had departed Taiwan on 07 December with a reported destination of South Korea, a spokesman for the ABF said in the media report.
It was within Australian waters but beyond the Contiguous Zone (CZ), a belt of water located 24 nautical miles from the coastline, making it where they could only enforce migration of illegal fishing laws, not criminal, the spokesman said.
“With several containers observed on board containing tobacco, as per the manifest. No border-controlled drugs were located. Officers also identified 10 crew members on board. They were all spoken to, with no other persons sighted on the vessel,” the ABF said.
They were also satisfied there were no other people on-board beside the crew and was not being used to smuggle illegal refugees.
Media sources have confirmed the vessel, registered to Tanzania, was rigged so it could carry out an offshore transfer to smaller vessels while at sea. It was also verging on being unseaworthy, according to the same sources.
“The boat was (supposedly) heading to South Korea and ended up in Australian waters – you don’t get that lost at sea,” a former federal and international law enforcement officer said.
“The only conclusion is the tobacco was to be offloaded here in either Melbourne or NSW. It appears to be a mother ship, where the illegal cargo is transferred at sea and smuggled ashore – it probably came back later and did that for all we know.”
Shadow minister for Home Affairs and Cyber security James Paterson said today: “At a time when criminal gangs are blowing up suburban shopping strips in their war for control over the hugely lucrative illegal tobacco market, Border Force have serious questions to answer over this fiasco,” he said.
“What kind of message does it send to tobacco smugglers that they can be caught so close to our shores not once but twice with no consequences?
“Instead of topping up their fuel and feeding them, they should have been arrested and charged to send a strong message about protecting our borders and community.”
By 22 January the Nami had drifted to Wollongong and when contacted again the captain said it was running critically low on fuel and provisions. He was told to head towards Port Kembla harbour where the ship anchored a few kilometres offshore on 25 to 26 January.
The vessel’s owner subsequently paid for fuel, food and additional provisions on board, before the MV Nami departed Australia, vanishing into international waters with its illicit cargo.
Also see this recent related article: Vapes Hidden in Containers of Commercial Goods
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