21-06-2025
Shock details emerge about an Aussie man's alleged cocaine 'dead drop' worth $9.7million
From a parked van near an inner-city reserve, a man retrieves a sports bag he allegedly believes contains cocaine worth millions.
It's called a 'dead drop' - with a long history of use in espionage - but unfortunately for the guy who came to collect the package on Friday in Sydney, he was on the wrong side of the intelligence gathering.
Australian Federal Police had already replaced the 30kg of wrapped cocaine bricks inside the bag.
The amount of drugs had a potential street value of almost $9.7million and would have equated to about 150,000 street level deals, the force said.
Officers then arrested their suspect at the end of a foot chase following his return with the goods to the city's salubrious eastern suburbs.
Police said they seized the fake cocaine along with encrypted devices and anabolic steroids from his Double Bay home and a nearby unit.
Officers were operating undercover, wearing bright orange hi-vis work wear to appear to be tradies, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Jonathan Lindsay Fagan, 40, has swapped the prestige postcode for a jail cell after declining to apply for bail in Parramatta Local Court on Saturday.
He has been charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported border controlled drugs, which can carry a lifetime prison sentence.
The case returns to court on Tuesday.
The arrest came after a three-month AFP investigation into an alleged transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating in Australia.
The inquiry had disrupted the group's operations, Detective Superintendent Morgen Blunden said.
'This result should serve as a serious warning to potential drug traffickers in Australia - don't get comfortable - because the AFP is constantly working to target and disrupt your criminal operations and bring you to justice.'
Friday's operation came a day after another man flew in to Sydney from Dubai allegedly carrying more than 10kg of cocaine in a suitcase.
