Cops hunt for dead diver’s accomplices

POLICE believe a dead man they suspect dived to the ocean floor off the coast of Newcastle’s port to retrieve an estimated $20m worth of cocaine was not working alone.

Emergency services were called to Heron Rd, near the shipping ports on Kooragang Island, about 9.30am on Monday to attend to an unconscious diver on the shore.

Port officials noticed the man floating in the water and he soon washed up on shore weighed down by diving equipment near the northern end of the port. They performed CPR until paramedics arrived on the scene, but the man died at the scene.

Packages containing more than 50kg of a white powder believed to be cocaine were located in the waters near shore with an estimated potential street value of $20m.

Detective Superintendent Robert Critchlow on Tuesday said the amount of drugs and the nature of the diving operation indicated it was a sophisticated operation.

“We’ll certainly be leaving no stone unturned in finding out where this package came from and also to identify this man,” he said.

Police believe the man had been attempting to get the waterproof packages to the surface.

Suspicious activity was reported on Sunday night around a large vessel moored close to where the man’s body was found. About midnight, port officials saw an inflatable rubber dinghy and a 5m speedboat with a green stripe near the ship under the cover of darkness.

“People, don’t scuba dive alone,” Mr Critchlow said. “It’s something of concern that there’s evidently more people involved than the dead man.”

The large vessel is registered to the Marshall Islands but originated in Argentina, where it was loaded with soy bean powder to transport to Australia.

Authorities are working with South American counterparts to try to identity the vessel’s shipment routes, the origin of the drugs and the identity of the deceased man.

The man was found wearing a hi-tech rebreather device that would have allowed him to stay underwater for an extended period of time.

A crime scene was established and the marine police unit, including divers, began searching surrounding waters with the assistance of the Australian Border Force.

A number of packages were also found floating near where the man’s body was found.

The man is yet to be formally identified and an investigation by the Organised Crime Squad and Australian Federal Police is under way.

Detectives are working to investigate who the man is, what drug syndicate he may be linked to, and where the cocaine came from.

A number of checks have been undertaken through Australian record systems but police have failed to find a positive match.