SYDNEY, June 22, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Australian police seized a record 2.7 tonnes of cocaine hidden in plastic tubs buried underground on the outskirts of Sydney, detectives said Monday.

It was the largest cocaine haul in Australian history, a joint organised crime investigation force said in a statement.

Police allege a Sydney-based organised crime group arranged for a foreign vessel to offload the cocaine in northern Queensland before moving it to Sydney for distribution.

"Investigations into the origin of the drugs remain ongoing, and we will work with our international and domestic law enforcement partners to identify the criminal syndicates," Australian Federal Police Commander Stephen Jay said.

The cocaine would have been worth more than Aus$800 ($560 million) in street sales -- money that "won't make it into the pockets of organised crime", he told a news conference.

An alleged mother vessel suspected to be part of the illicit drug importation into Queensland, the MV Wealth, has been detained by authorities in the Solomon Islands for further investigation, police said.

Pacific Island states have become a transit point for lucrative black market cocaine and methamphetamine shipments to Australia and New Zealand from as far as South America and Southeast Asia.

Police discovered the cocaine on Friday in plastic tubs buried in underground bunkers that were concealed by false floors.

It was found at the back of a property in Londonderry, a semi-rural northwestern suburb of greater Sydney.

Officers arrested two men aged 21 and 25 who allegedly tried to run away.

Each of the men was charged with possessing a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported drug -- an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Six others allegedly involved in the importation of the cocaine had previously been arrested and charged with offences related to illicit drugs possession, police said.

Cocaine-related deaths in Australia surged 28 percent to a record 141 in 2024, according to an annual report on overdoses released this month by the Penington Institute, which researches drug use.