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Twist as the superyacht operator’s son is indicted with his father in an alleged $20 million cocaine smuggling plot in which a diver died while trying to extract drugs from under a freighter
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The young son of a superyacht operator has been charged with his alleged involvement in a botched $20 million cocaine operation.
James Blake Blee, 62, was arrested at Cairns Airport in northern Queensland in May after dock workers in Newcastle, NSW, found a diver unconscious in the water – surrounded by floating blocks of cocaine.
Police allege that the diver, 31-year-old Bruno Borges, was hired to retrieve 54 kg of the drug from the bottom of an Argentine freighter, but died in the process.
Blee was reportedly trying to leave the country on a flight to Singapore when he was intercepted by federal police.
After extensive investigation on Tuesday, his 20-year-old son James Blee Junior was arrested in Tweed Heads, northern NSW.
He was accused of imports commercial quantities of border-controlled drugs and supplies more banned drugs than large commercial quantities, and will appear in court on Wednesday.
Superyacht tour operator Jimmy Blee is accused of playing a key role in an alleged $20 million cocaine smuggling operation
Blee Senior has three children and an Indonesian wife, and was extradited to NSW in May on charges of importing a large commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs and a large commercial drug supply.
He organizes luxury yachting, fishing and diving trips through Indonesia, Northern Queensland and the Whitsundays, as well as providing consultancy services to other yacht owners and operators.
A well-known character among local yacht operators, the 62-year-old has unsuccessfully signed up for the 2019 Australian Survivor series after appearing in a 2013 Malaysian paint commercial.
In his audition tape for Survivor, he jokingly claimed that he had lived in his backyard for 10 days in preparation for the series, surviving on a diet of rainwater and worms.
In several interviews about his business, he bragged about his network of experienced divers.
“We have slowly developed a great team of ‘Top Gun’ diving experts who work exceptionally well as onboard dive/guides,” he said of his diving trips to the Papua region of Indonesia aboard the luxury charter boat Amandira.
His website added: “With his 25 years of experience and contacts in Asia, Jimmy has a network that spreads far and wide.
“In addition, Jimmy, an avid diver, has made over 3,000 dives, most of them in eastern Indonesia waters.”
His website says he has a fleet of 150 “foreign flag ships,” including operating the $93 million $250 million Mayan Queen and the 55-foot Achilles superyachts.