THEY landed in Brisbane, purchased expensive diving equipment and underwater scooters from the Gold Coast, booked an Airbnb at Pelican and undertook practice dives at Blacksmiths Beach.
The pair, Norwegian nationals and professional divers, were preparing for an underwater operation entitled "Finding Nemo"; a plot to collect 80 kilograms of cocaine secreted in the sea chest of a bulk carrier moored in the Port of Newcastle.
And while they used an encrypted app to communicate with other members of the drug trafficking syndicate and one of the men used the pseudonyms "Aqua Man" or "Norse Diver", the pair used their own names, identification documents and credit cards when speaking to locals or purchasing equipment.
And they also attracted attention at Blacksmiths Beach when, in the middle of the day on January 23 last year, they donned full body wetsuits, complete with hoods and diving masks and used their newly-purchased Seabob underwater scooters.
One beach-goer even took photos of the Norwegians and their fancy gear, asking the men what they did for a living.
"We are ice divers," one of them said.
It was a practice dive ahead of the planned retrieval of the cocaine hidden in the sea chest of the Cyprus-registered bulk carrier Stalo a few days later.
But all the preparation would be in vain.
The police - after receiving an anonymous tip off - had gotten their first.
And so a day before the two Norwegians slipped into the harbour under the cover of darkness and headed for the Stalo, police divers had already raided the sea chest and found the 80 kilograms of cocaine.
The Norwegians arrived to find the sea chest empty, the 80 or so red, blue and yellow packages that had been weighed down, cable-tied and stuffed in waterproof duffel bags gone.
One of the men, 34-year-old Johan Martinius Halversen, had pleaded not guilty to attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and was expected to face a trial in Newcastle District Court next year.
But on Tuesday, after negotiations as part of the court's super callover, he was re-arraigned and pleaded guilty.
He remains behind bars and will be sentenced in March.
According to court documents, the Stalo had departed from the Port of Santos in Brazil in November, 2022.
And as it inched closer to Newcastle, the two Norwegian men were preparing to fly into Brisbane from Indonesia.
They purchased diving equipment, including paying more than $50,000 for two Seabob F5 SR underwater scooters and a fast charger.
They said they needed the underwater scooters urgently and Halversen used his own credit card, passport and driver's license to complete the transaction.
They then headed south to the Hunter where they purchased more equipment and booked an Airbnb at Pelican.
"We are two friends on vacation from Norway and would like to rent your house, we think it looked perfect for us," Halversen wrote to the proprietor. "We would like to check in this evening and hope that is possible. Best Regards Martin Halvorsen."
But on the morning of their practice dive at Blacksmiths Beach, someone called and left an anonymous tip with police.
The voice was an electronic recording that repeated the words: "the ship Stalo will be entering Port of Newcastle with drugs located in the bulwark".
And so while the men went through their final preparations, police divers were foiling the international drug import plot.
The two men went into the Harbour in the early hours of January 25 and at some point attempted to access the sea chest and recover the cocaine.
Unsuccessful, the pair swam towards the shore and were spotted by crew members on a ferry, who shone torches on them and asked if they needed assistance.
The divers waved them off, swam away and climbed up rocks before discarding some of their diving equipment and tools.
The men were arrested about 3pm that day when they returned to Honeysuckle and were spotted sitting in camping chairs facing the harbour.
