Australian police seized the country’s largest haul of cocaine aboard a fishing boat that had broken down near the coast of Queensland, arresting 13 people alleged to be part of a drug-smuggling syndicate. Authorities tracked a recreational fishing boat as it traveled out to sea where it allegedly met a mothership in international waters to fetch the cocaine – some 2.34 metric tons with a street value of nearly half a billion dollars. The boat suffered a suspected mechanical breakdown, leaving the alleged traffickers stranded 18 kilometers (11 miles) off the northeastern tip of K’gari island, formerly known as Fraser Island, on Saturday. Police seized their chance to board the boat, arresting two men at sea in a joint investigation between federal and local forces. Another 11 were arrested on shore, including two juveniles. The arrests include the Brisbane vice president of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, which is accused…
