Police allege drugs were to be collected from a drop zone in Bass Strait and distributed across the nation using trucking connections

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When a commercial trawler sank off Victoria with four crew members needing rescuing, police became suspicious about an alleged drug trafficking operation.

Nine men are accused over a conspiracy to import tonnes of cocaine and methamphetamine before distributing the drugs across Australia using trucking connections.

A 10-month investigation by the Australian federal police, Victoria police, Australian Border Force and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission resulted in the arrests of the men, eight of them in Victoria and one in Sydney.