Authorities say bricks of cocaine were shuttled from the vessel, launching a shipment they allege was bound for Australia's east coast.
The suspected mothership, the MV Wealth, has been detained in the Solomon Islands as part of the investigation.
In just three weeks, officers seized 178kg of cocaine and 142kg of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $100 million.
Six men are accused of helping move and stash the drugs through a chain of suburban safe houses stretching from regional Queensland to western Sydney.
The operation, codenamed Operation Minjiang, kicked off after 40kg of cocaine was found floating off a boat ramp at Midge Point in north Queensland alongside a burnt‑out flatbed truck with a crane.
Investigators said the floating bricks and the torched truck were the first hint of a mothership sitting offshore.
The Queensland Joint Organised Crime Taskforce - drawing in various agencies including Border Force and Australian Federal Police - traced the drugs to a suspected safe house in Brisbane's north.
A crime scene warrant at Petrie allegedly turned up a one kilogram brick of cocaine and drug paraphernalia in a house police say was used to store the haul.
From there, officers say they watched as the network allegedly shifted the shipment through southeast Queensland and into NSW.
A 41‑year‑old Mackay region man is accused of organising the pick‑up at Midge Point and trucking the consignment down to Brisbane.
A 32‑year‑old Petrie man is accused of harbouring the drugs, while a 32‑year‑old Middle Park man in Brisbane's southwest is alleged to have been lining up a run to Sydney.
The alleged plot came into focus when detectives raided an Eagleby home and then followed the trail to a property at Mount Cotton on Brisbane's bayside.
There, they say, they opened a van parked at the address and found the bulk of the load - 178kg of cocaine and 142kg of meth - packed inside.
Police insist the home owners are not suspects and say they had no idea what was hidden in the vehicle on their property.
A 28‑year‑old Eagleby man is accused of controlling that cache, while a 28‑year‑old Hillcrest man is alleged to have joined meetings at the Petrie safe house to help arrange the drugs' movement.
In Sydney's west, AFP officers raided a Green Valley home and arrested a 24‑year‑old man accused of travelling to Midge Point to help collect and move the shipment.
The six men face a string of serious Commonwealth drug importation charges, with several offences carrying maximum penalties of life in prison.
Australian Federal Police said the case showed how far organised crime groups would go to cash in on Australia's appetite for drugs.
''Organised criminals are sending their illicit business to our shores because of the insatiable Australian demand for illegal commodities and the community's willingness to pay top dollar for them – it is that simple,'' Commander Stephen Jay said.
Queensland Police Detective Acting Chief Superintendent Troy Pukallus said the haul had delivered a "significant disruption'' to an organised crime group.
Investigations are continuing and further arrests have not been ruled out.
13°C