Behind the White Line: International cocaine sting which caused turf war between AFP, WA Police, and US agents

The biggest ever drug sting in Australia involving 2.4 tonnes of Mexican cartel cocaine was stricken by a cross-agency battle which saw the Australian Federal Police take extraordinary action behind the scenes to cast doubt over the legality of the covert operation by WA Police. Documents obtained by The West Australian and LiSTNR’s podcast: Behind The White Line reveal animosity and dysfunction between State and Federal policing agencies over operations involving the United States’ Drug Enforcement Administration. In this case, WA Police and Sydney-based DEA agents dropped 1.2 tonnes of fake cocaine into the Indian Ocean off Perth in late 2022 and used encrypted apps to pose as cartel members to lure representatives of an Australian crime syndicate out to sea to collect the drugs. They planned to drop another 1.2 tonnes of fake cocaine in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Queensland around the same time, but were prevented from doing so because the AFP had cast doubt on the legality of the operation, according to law enforcement sources. WA Police Detective Superintendent John Hutchinson, who oversaw the WA drug sting, was remarkably candid in an interview with the Behind The White Line podcast. “It really comes down to just sheer jealousy,” Mr Hutchinson said of the AFP’s actions. “It’s really just sheer patch protection at the expense of people. Never mind the great job . . . it (the drug seizure) was more than, at the time, half of Australia’s annual consumption of cocaine in one bust, which is unheard of.” The actual 2.4 tonnes of cocaine had been commandeered by the DEA in November 2022 on a boat off the coast of Ecuador which was bound for Australia. The mammoth haul — worth about $1 billion — prompted officers to hatch a plan to replace the cocaine with plaster of Paris in a bid to catch those involved. The bogus coke was dumped in the ocean about 40 nautical miles north of Perth, resulting in the dramatic arrest of 12 people linked to a Mexican drug cartel after a series of stuff-ups by the criminal gang which saw one boat run out of fuel and wash ashore south of Moore River. News of the massive seizure off Ecuador was suppressed in order to preserve the opportunity to run a takedown in Australia. The Behind The White Line podcast goes deep inside the sting, known as Operation Beech, to reveal the bad blood that exists at the highest levels of Australian policing. The podcast series also examines the surge in cocaine’s popularity in Australia, with use of the one-time glamour drug increasingly normalised across various segments of the community. In an exclusive interview, recently departed acting DEA director Derek Maltz, said “parochialism” was at the heart of the Federal-State police tensions that led to the two Sydney-based DEA agents being asked to leave Australia in early 2023 following complaints to the US Ambassador by then-AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw. “There’s an old saying: organised crime, disorganised police,” Mr Matlz said. Despite the fallout between the AFP and WA Police, Operation Beech was successful. Not only was 2.4 tonnes of cocaine — about half of Australia’s annual consumption — prevented from arriving, a dozen people were caught in the sting. They all pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking charges and are serving prison sentences. On top of that, $2 million in cash was seized and communication devices — that contained a mass of information about money-laundering networks in Australia and offshore — were also accessed. But proving how sensitive the demarcation lines are between enforcement agencies, the AFP has been extremely secretive about its concerns over the joint WA Police and DEA cocaine sting. It has chosen to suppress dozens of pages of emails and documents from release under the Freedom of Information Act. Almost 60 consecutive pages of material have been withheld, with the AFP claiming the documents could damage relations with the US, harm relations with WA, and are legally privileged. What is clear from 35 pages of heavily-redacted emails released by the AFP is that its most senior officers and lawyers were working extensively through the 2022 Christmas and the 2023 new year to prepare a brief for then-commissioner Mr Kershaw for a telephone conversation with then-DEA administrator, Anne Milgram. This was the same period of time that WA Police and the DEA carried out Operation Beech and arrested men from New South Wales, the Northern Territory and the United States. The documents also show the AFP commissioned advice from the Australian Government Solicitor about the legality of a State police force conducting a drug sting 40 nautical miles from the Australian coastline. The AFP did not release the legal advice and has repeatedly refused to answer questions about its concerns over Operation Beech, including Mr Kershaw’s complaint about the DEA agents involved to then-US Ambassador, Caroline Kennedy. WA Police sources maintain Operation Beech was always within the law and that the AFP declined offers to become involved. None of those arrested as part of the operation opted to go to trial and raise arguments about the legal status of the sting. A law enforcement source aware of the AFP’s concerns said its senior officers were growing tired of the DEA’s Australia-based agents opting to work with WA and NSW police on major drug importations. In regards to Operation Beech, dropping a shipment of drugs or fake drugs far out to sea and allowing them to be collected by crime syndicate members would normally require Commonwealth approval for a controlled operation. But with the AFP refusing to provide such approval, WA Police relied on the Crimes At Sea Act of 2000 which allows Commonwealth powers to be transferred to a State if a Federal agency does not want to run an operation. The AFP has recently faced criticism from NSW police over withholding information about drug seizures and a 2025 “fake” terrorism plot involving a caravan packed with explosives in north-western Sydney. A third DEA agent was sent home from Australia this year after the AFP raised concerns about his handling of evidence in a drugs’ case with NSW Police.