Smugglers caught burying cocaine on beach

PERTH, Australia -- A huge haul of cocaine discovered on a remote Australian beach has bought a sequel in court for two U.S. citizens and three Colombians.

Valued at $127.5 million ($A250 million) the seizure has been described as Australia's biggest cocaine bust and a major blow to international drug cartels.

The drug runners had planned to off-load the cocaine on Australia's sparse northwest coast and haul it in a caravan to Sydney where it would feed the country's biggest drug market.

But federal agents were monitoring a 30-meter fishing boat stocked with the drugs after a tip-off warned them a large drug shipment could be headed for Australia.

COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: Australia Provided by CountryWatch.com    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

Their chance came when the vessel ran out of fuel off the coast, hundreds of kilometers from its destination.

The smugglers then took to the water in inflatable craft, ferrying drugs to an isolated beach near Denham, 700 kilometers north of Perth, where the drugs were buried.

Two U.S. citizens and three Colombians appeared in Geraldton Magistrates Court on Australia's west coast on Saturday.

The Americans, aged 46 and 58 and one 32-year-old Colombian were charged with importing a prohibited substance, an offense that carries a maximum 25-year sentence.

The remaining two Colombians, believed to be aged 31 and 32, were charged with being knowingly concerned in a prohibited importation.

None entered a plea and all five were remanded to appear in a Perth court next Friday.

In Australia's previous largest cocaine haul, police seized half a ton of the drug worth up to A$150 million on a yacht off Sydney in February 2000.