A third man left clinging to an esky off the Western Australian coast has been charged over the alleged importation of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine after he was found hiding under a home spa with a gun.
Three men were rescued after they were plunged into the ocean off Albany early last month when their boat capsized while they were supposedly fishing.
Days later, a package of cocaine washed ashore near the town of Denmark and a seven-metre boat was found overturned off Peaceful Bay a week later.
A search of the partially submerged vessel, named Aces and Eights, uncovered another eight plastic-wrapped packages each containing about 40 kilograms of cocaine.
All told, police found about 365 kilograms of cocaine and warrants for the men's arrest were issued after they disappeared.
A 36 and 45-year-old were taken into custody in the proceeding weeks.
The third man plucked from the ocean was on Wednesday arrested in Perth after a six-week manhunt, the Australian Federal Police said.
Officers allegedly found the 49-year-old hiding in a "secret" compartment under a spa on a back patio at a Byford property. He had a loaded gun in a bag beside him.
He was charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and is expected to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Police will allege the three men were collecting the drugs from the ocean off Albany before the cabin cruiser overturned and sank.
The 36-year-old was arrested by Northern Territory police in mid-February after he was found at a home in rural Darwin.
AFP officers arrested the 45-year-old in Perth's north-eastern suburbs on March 9.
Both were also charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
How and where the drugs were dropped in the ocean prior to their alleged collection by the three men on the Aces and Eights is still being investigated.
"Our investigation has not ended with the charging of these three men, we continue to work with our partners to track down anyone involved in this importation," AFP Sergeant Kristen Swan said.
"The seizure of more than 300kg of cocaine prevented millions of dollars of drug profit from flowing back into a transnational criminal syndicate to fund another illegal venture or lavish lifestyles."
The AFP's drug harm index estimates the seizure of this amount of cocaine has saved the community more than $190 million in drug-related harm, including associated crime, healthcare and loss of productivity.
