The cocaine, estimated to have a street value of A$816 million ($572 million), was discovered on June 19 at a semi-rural property in the western Sydney suburb of Londonderry, the Queensland Joint Organised Crime Taskforce said on Monday.

Investigators said the drugs were hidden in plastic tubs buried in underground bunkers accessible through false floors installed inside three shipping containers on the property.

Two Sydney men, aged 21 and 25, were arrested at the scene and charged with possessing a commercial quantity of an illicit drug. If convicted, they face potential life sentences under Australian law.

The seizure surpasses Australia’s previous record cocaine interception of 2.34 metric tons, recovered from a fishing vessel near K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, off the Queensland coast in 2024.

Authorities allege the shipment entered Australia through Midge Point in Queensland before being transported approximately 1,800 kilometers by road to Sydney by an organized crime network.

Police believe the drugs originated from the same mother ship linked to an earlier seizure of 178 kilograms of cocaine and 142 kilograms of methamphetamine in Queensland. Six individuals have already been charged in connection with that investigation.

Investigators suspect the vessel involved is the Belize-flagged cargo ship MV Wealth, which has been detained by authorities in the Solomon Islands over suspected links to transnational organized crime activities.

The Solomon Islands lie roughly 2,000 kilometers northeast of Queensland and have increasingly attracted law enforcement attention as authorities monitor trafficking routes across the Pacific region.

Australian Federal Police Commander Stephen Jay said criminal syndicates were increasingly exploiting Queensland’s extensive 13,000-kilometer coastline to import illicit drugs into Australia.

The seizure highlights the continued attraction of the Australian narcotics market to international trafficking organizations. Law enforcement agencies note that Australians pay some of the highest prices globally for cocaine, making the country a highly profitable destination for organized crime groups despite intensified border enforcement and interdiction efforts.

Investigations into the trafficking network and the origins of the shipment remain ongoing.

Wale, elected by lawmakers on Friday after the removal of former prime minister Jeremiah Manele, named former premier Rick Hou as foreign minister and legislator Peter Kenilorea as minister for National Planning and Development Coordination, portfolios central to the country’s foreign aid and diplomatic engagement.

The appointments are being closely watched by regional governments and Western allies as the strategically located Pacific archipelago remains an arena of competition between China and Australia for political and security influence.

Kenilorea is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a multinational group critical of Beijing’s policies. James Batley, a former Australian high commissioner to the Solomon Islands, said the appointments suggested a greater emphasis on transparency, although he said it was unlikely Honiara would reverse its 2019 decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.

Hou, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2019 before the diplomatic switch, had publicly opposed the move to sever ties with Taiwan. Batley described Hou as experienced in international affairs and unlikely to be easily pressured in diplomatic negotiations.

Chinese Ambassador Cai Weiming and Australian High Commissioner Jeff Roach both met Wale over the weekend as regional powers moved quickly to engage the new administration.

According to a statement from the prime minister’s office, Wale told Cai that the Solomon Islands remained committed to the One China policy and intended to continue cooperation with Beijing to deliver economic benefits.

In separate talks with Australia, Wale said Canberra should adopt a longer-term approach to deepening bilateral ties, while describing Australia as the country’s longstanding development partner.

The government also restored a prohibition on the export of live dolphins, reversing a decision by the previous administration to lift the ban days before its collapse.

Environmental campaigner Lawrence Makili welcomed the move, saying it would help protect both marine life and the international reputation of the Solomon Islands’ tuna industry, one of the country’s largest sources of export revenue.

The issue gained prominence after a company applied to capture and export 50 dolphins, prompting criticism from conservation groups concerned about the impact on marine ecosystems and trade perceptions abroad.

While dolphin hunting in Malaita has historically been tied to traditional practices involving dolphin teeth, the commercial export of dolphins to aquariums in China has drawn increasing scrutiny in recent years.

Wale secured 26 votes against 22 for rival candidate Peter Shanel Agovaka in a parliamentary ballot announced by Governor General David Tiva Kapu.
“We take government at a difficult time, given what is happening throughout the world,” Wale said after his election.

“We are not immune from the impacts of these geopolitical events,” he added.

The leadership transition comes at a sensitive moment for the Pacific island nation, whose growing strategic relationship with China has drawn scrutiny from the United States, Australia and regional allies.

Located about 1,600 kilometers northeast of Australia, the Solomon Islands has become a focal point of geopolitical competition in the Pacific since signing a security pact with China in 2022.

Wale had previously emerged as one of the agreement’s most vocal domestic critics, warning the deal could undermine regional security arrangements and strain ties with traditional partners including Australia and the United States.

However, his stance toward Beijing appeared to soften in recent years. In 2025, Wale led a delegation to China where he praised the country’s economic development and reaffirmed support for the “one-China” policy, according to a statement released by the Chinese Communist Party.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese congratulated Wale after the vote and signaled Canberra’s intention to maintain close engagement with the new government.

“Congratulations to Matthew Wale, on being appointed Prime Minister of Solomon Islands. I look forward to working together to continue strengthening our economic, development and security partnership,” Albanese said in a post on X.

The Solomon Islands has experienced repeated political turbulence in recent years as external powers deepen engagement across the Pacific through security agreements, infrastructure projects and economic aid programs.

Sogavare, who has built close ties with China, held a press conference on Wednesday after arriving back in Solomon Islands from the United States, where he spoke at the United Nations but did not join other Pacific Island Forum leaders in Washington for a two-day summit.

U.S. President Joe Biden met the Pacific island leaders for a second White House summit in just over a year on Monday, part of a charm offensive aimed at curbing inroads by China into a region Washington considers strategically crucial.

Sogavare said he attended the first summit last year and “nothing came out of it”.

“They lecture you about how good they are”, he said, according to a video of the press conference published by Solomon Islands media company Tavuli News on Wednesday evening.

A Biden Administration official said on Sunday they were “disappointed” Sogavare would not attend.

Sogavare said he returned because there were 10 weeks left of parliament at home in Solomon Islands, which was more important.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement on Wednesday the summit had seen the U.S. make a significant pledge for infrastructure investment, and the meeting was a “significant step towards making the Pacific more secure and prosperous”.

Biden pledged to work with Congress to provide $200 million more in funding for projects in the region aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change, spurring economic growth, countering illegal fishing and improving public health.

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sogavare had praised China’s development cooperation as “less restrictive”.

Biden will host a second summit with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum at the White House on Monday as part of his efforts to step up engagement with a region where the U.S. is in a battle for influence with China.

The summit with the 18-member forum will take place on Monday and Tuesday in Washington.

“We are disappointed that PM Sogavare of the Solomons does not plan to attend,” a Biden Administration official said.

The Australian broadcaster ABC reported Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele will attend the summit instead.

The Solomon Islands Prime Ministers Office did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Sogavare spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday in New York, where he praised China’s development cooperation as “less restrictive, more responsive and aligned to our national needs”, and said Beijing was its lead infrastructure partner.

Sogavare said he reached an understanding with President Xi Jinping during a July visit to China for Solomon Islands to achieve development through China’s policies, including the Belt and Road Initiative and Global Security Initiative.

Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman also will not attend the meeting, an official from his office told Reuters on Friday, because all Vanuatu government lawmakers need to be in parliament on Monday for a no-confidence vote.

The United States, Australia, New Zealand and Solomon Islands’ opposition party have called for Sogavare to publish details of a policing deal signed in Beijing last week, amid concern it will invite further regional contest. 

Sogavare told a press conference on Monday in Honiara that Australia and the U.S. should not fear China’s police support for Solomon Islands , ABC Television reported.

“Targeting China-Solomon Islands relations is … un-neighbourly and lacks respect,” he said.

China had agreed to provide budget support for Solomon Islands, he added.

Australia has historically been Solomon Islands’ largest aid donor and security partner.

The U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Solomon Islands’ opposition party have called for Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to “immediately” publish details of the policing deal signed in Beijing on Monday, amid concern it will invite further regional contest.

Sogavare has denied suggestions a Chinese police presence poses a regional security threat, and says China will enhance the capability of the Solomon Islands 1,500 police officers in cyber security and community policing.

“We take the view, along with all other members of the Pacific Island Forum… that security is best provided for within the Pacific family,” Wong told reporters in Jakarta, after meeting with Wang on Thursday evening.

“We understand that countries make their sovereign decisions, however the security of the Pacific is something that we all have an interest in, so we urge there to be transparency,” she added.

In a statement on Friday, Sogavare’s office said the Chinese police will add to the existing Australia and New Zealand policing support.

“Solomon Islands Government fails to see how the improvement of (Royal Solomon Islands Police Force) traffic control and management system in Honiara, provision of police equipment or the completion of the Forensic Autopsy Lab is a threat to the Pacific region peace and security,” it said.

Riots in the capital Honiara in 2021 exposed gaps in the islands’ policing, it said.

Australian and New Zealand police deployed to Solomon Islands in response to the anti-government riots at Sogavare’s request.

In the week before his China visit, Sogavare announced Australia’s security treaty would be reviewed.

Opposition leader Matthew Wale said in a statement “policing is different in democracies than in communist countries and democracies must uphold human rights and due process”.

The issue was the compatibility of Chinese and Pacific policing, said Meg Keen, director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands programme.

“It is critical how the equipment is used, particularly guns and water cannons,” she said.

On his visit to Beijing this week, his first since striking a security pact with China last year, Sogavare pledged support for China’s Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative policy, which pair Chinese infrastructure investment and security.

Solomon Islands has a population of 700,000, across an archipelago that occupies a strategic position in the Pacific Islands, and was pivotal to the U.S. move west across the Pacific to liberate the Philippines in World War Two.

Tensions over Taiwan have raised concerns in Washington and Canberra over China’s naval ambitions in the region.

“Our fear is that in the near future China’s interest will clash with U.S. influence and strategic interests in the region and we are right in the middle of it all,” opposition leader Wale added.

Beijing (Reuters) – China and the Solomon Islands on Monday signed a deal on police cooperation as part of upgrading their relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, four years after the Pacific nation switched ties from Taiwan to China.

The police cooperation pact was among nine deals signed after Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, underlining his nation’s foreign policy shift to seek opportunities beyond the region

Sogavare arrived in China on Sunday for his first visit since the two countries struck a security pact last year, to the alarm of the United States and neighbours including Australia.

“In just four years, the relationship between China and the Solomon Islands has developed rapidly, and we can now say that it is very fruitful,” Li told Sogavare.

Sogavare, in turn, thanked China for its role in addressing global challenges including peace and sustainable development. He added that his country had “a lot to learn” from China’s experience.

When Sogavare came to power in 2019, he switched the nation’s diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing, which claims the democratically governed island as part of its territory.

Last month, Sogavare called for a review of a 2017 security treaty with Australia in a meeting with the Australian defence minister.

Australia has historically provided policing support to the Solomon Islands, including the rapid deployment of police in 2021 to quell riots, although China has increased its police training there.

Sogavare also met Chinese President Xi Jinping and the two agreed to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership, according to Chinese state television.

“China and Pacific island countries are both developing countries and should strengthen mutual assistance within the framework of South-South cooperation,” Xi said in his meeting with Sogavare.

China has long supported so-called South-South cooperation, which refers to cooperation between developing nations as equals for mutual benefit.

Describing the two countries as “trustworthy friends and reliable brothers”, Xi said China-Solomon Islands ties have set a “good example of solidarity and cooperation” between countries of different sizes and between developing nations.

China supports more of its firms investing in Solomon Islands and will continue to provide economic and technical assistance “without political strings attached”, Xi told Sogavare.

He also pledged support for a 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, referring to a grand blueprint agreed among Pacific nations on advancing the region’s strategic goals over the next three decades.

In a statement, Sogavare’s office highlighted “quality infrastructure” as an area that the country needs for economic empowerment to eradicate poverty.

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is already building a cellular network in the island nation, financed by a $66 million Chinese EXIM bank loan that has prompted concern by a parliamentary committee about the debt burden. A Chinese state company will also redevelop the port in the capital Honiara.

The two countries also reached agreements in areas including civil aviation, trade, economy, technology and sports.

Sogavare will be in China until Saturday and officially open his country’s embassy in Beijing

Sydney (Reuters) – Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare arrives in China on Sunday for his first visit since striking a security deal, pledging to “remain neutral” amid rising China-U.S. competition and prioritise his nation’s development needs.

Western analysts said Sogavare would be feted after signing the security pact that alarmed Washington and some Pacific Islands neighbours including Australia last year. Concern over China’s naval ambitions in the strategically-located region prompted Washington to strike a defence agreement with Papua New Guinea last month.

Sogavare highlighted his focus on infrastructure in a speech to mark the 45th anniversary of independence from Britain on Friday, where he said bigger countries were jostling for influence.

“We want to remain neutral because it is not in the interest of our people and country to take sides and align ourselves with interests that are not our interests. Our national interest is development,” he said.

The need for infrastructure on islands outside the capital Honiara was urgent, he added.

Already, Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is building a cellular network financed by a $66 million Chinese EXIM bank loan, prompting concern by a parliamentary committee about the debt burden, and a Chinese state company will redevelop Honiara’s port.

On a week-long trip funded by Beijing, Sogavare will open the nation’s embassy, meet Chinese companies, and visit Jiangsu and Guangdong, his office said.

“The relationship continues to thrive and expand, a testament of a serious connection,” his office said.

China’s foreign ministry said China and the Solomon Islands had “contributed to peace, stability and development in the region”, and the two countries leaders would discuss international and regional issues.

In a local television interview, Sogavare said the Solomon Islands was dependent on aid from Australia, but was shifting its foreign policy to look for opportunities with China, as well as India and Gulf states.

Sogavare came to power in 2019, switching the nation’s diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing.

Honiara will host the Pacific Games in November. China has constructed the stadium, is advising on security, and will train 80 Solomon Islands athletes arriving in China this week.

“The timing is about the Pacific Games, the athletes are being sent over, and showing gratitude… this is the domestic theatre of Chinese foreign policy,” said Graeme Smith, a Pacific affairs experts at the Australian National University.

Sogavare will be feted as “this small nation that dares to stand up to the U.S. and to stand up to Australia,” he added.

Solomon Islands has one of the closest relationships with China in the region, said Meg Keen, director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands program.

“With the Pacific Games and elections coming up, Sogavare will be seeking resources for national and political advantage,” she said.

“It is not a zero-sum game,” she added. Sogavare will leverage geopolitical rivalries to also accept aid from the U.S. and Japan

Sydney (Reuters) – Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare arrives in China on Sunday for his first visit since striking a security deal, pledging to “remain neutral” amid rising China-U.S. competition and prioritise his nation’s development needs.

Western analysts said Sogavare would be feted after signing the security pact that alarmed Washington and some Pacific Islands neighbours including Australia last year. Concern over China’s naval ambitions in the strategically-located region prompted Washington to strike a defence agreement with Papua New Guinea last month.

Sogavare highlighted his focus on infrastructure in a speech to mark the 45th anniversary of independence from Britain on Friday, where he said bigger countries were jostling for influence.

“We want to remain neutral because it is not in the interest of our people and country to take sides and align ourselves with interests that are not our interests. Our national interest is development,” he said.

The need for infrastructure on islands outside the capital Honiara was urgent, he added.

Already, Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is building a cellular network and a Chinese state company will redevelop Honiara’s port.

On a week-long trip funded by Beijing, Sogavare will open the nation’s embassy, meet Chinese companies, and visit Jiangsu and Guangdong, his office said.

“The relationship continues to thrive and expand, a testament of a serious connection,” his office said.

China’s foreign ministry said China and the Solomon Islands had “contributed to peace, stability and development in the region”, and the two countries leaders would discuss international and regional issues.

In a local television interview, Sogavare said the Solomon Islands was dependent on aid from Australia, but was shifting its foreign policy to look for opportunities with China, as well as India and Gulf states.

Sogavare came to power in 2019, switching the nation’s diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing.

Honiara will host the Pacific Games in November. China has constructed the stadium, is advising on security, and will train 80 Solomon Islands athletes arriving in China this week.

“The timing is about the Pacific Games, the athletes are being sent over, and showing gratitude… this is the domestic theatre of Chinese foreign policy,” said Graeme Smith, a Pacific affairs experts at the Australian National University.

Sogavare will be feted as “this small nation that dares to stand up to the U.S. and to stand up to Australia,” he added.

Solomon Islands has one of the closest relationships with China in the region, said Meg Keen, director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands program.

“With the Pacific Games and elections coming up, Sogavare will be seeking resources for national and political advantage,” she said.

“It is not a zero-sum game,” she added. Sogavare will leverage geopolitical rivalries to also accept aid from the U.S. and Japan.