Authorities Find $100M in Drugs Hidden in Vintage Bentley Shipped to Australia
Drug traffickers stashed 355 pounds of methamphetamines and 132 pounds of cocaine in a 1960 Bentley S2.
Drug trafficking is alive, well, and still creative with its methods. Earlier this month, Australian police intercepted a shipping container with an unlikely drug courier inside: a 1960 Bentley S2 with $100 million of illicit substances hidden onboard.
The drug trade in Australia is particularly peculiar. Because of its effective location as a large island in the middle of the Pacific and Indian oceans, smuggling is challenging, with few ways in or out. The value of drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine is inflated relative to the United States, with a commensurate increase in strange smuggling methods.
The shipping container declared to contain the Bentley shipped via cargo ship from Canada and landed at Port Botany in New South Wales. According to the NSW Police, they intercepted the container “Acting on intelligence,” and it “underwent an X-ray and examination, which identified anomalies.”
“Further examinations of the Bentley revealed a large quantity of methylamphetamine concealed behind the headlights of the vehicle" said NSW Police. This led police to further dismantle the car, finding 355 pounds of methamphetamine and 132 pounds of cocaine hidden within the vehicle. It’s unclear if all the drugs were hidden behind the headlights or stashed behind various parts of the old Bentley. The police photographs show the headlight bucket of the car removed, meaning the traffickers likely hid the drugs in the inner fender.
Australian authorities started Task Force Chime to complete the investigation into the meth-filled Bentley. They reassembled the car sans drugs and allowed it to continue to its new owner as it usually would have, using the car as bait. Police raided the home of the alleged traffickers and seized the Bentley and a Ford Focus, seemingly while the traffickers were disassembling the car and searching for their take.
Police photographs of the arrest show a headlight and one wheel of the Bentley removed in a search that would prove fruitless. Two men, 22 and 23, were arrested, taken in without bail, and charged with criminal drug offenses.
The fate of the Bentley S2 is unclear. Hopefully, it finds a better home after this absurd ordeal.
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