Australian police today said they have destroyed about 500 kilograms of cocaine seized in 2020 after a plane believed to that he was transporting the drugs from Papua New Guinea (PNG), crashed, DPA reported.
The drug was burned on November 28 at a secure facility in Queensland under the supervision of police from PNG and Australia, the Australian Federal Police said in a statement.
In July 2020 A Chesna light aircraft believed to have been loaded with drugs was attempting to reach Queensland from an isolated airstrip north of PNG's capital Port Moresby. The police believe that the weight of the drug led to the crash on takeoff.
Five days later, PNG authorities discovered the cocaine, worth about half a billion US dollars, which was said to have been on the plane. This is the largest drug seizure in the history of PNG.
Five Australian nationals and four PNG nationals were charged with planning the shipment of the drugs. In September, they were sentenced to between 18 and 19 years in prison by a PNG court, which also ordered the drugs to be destroyed.
Australian police previously said the five Australians may have had links to Italian organized crime.
After being seized in PNG, the drugs were sent to Australia for forensic examination and storage.