FORENSIC police have searched a granny flat as part of the ongoing investigation into the death of a Brazilian diver in Newcastle, linked with a plot to smuggle cocaine into the country.
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About 9.30am on Monday May 9, 2022, emergency services were called to the Port of Newcastle after a male diver was located unresponsive in the water, with 54kg of cocaine located nearby.
Despite the efforts of witnesses and paramedics, the man could not be revived.
He was later formally identified as 31-year-old Brazilian national, Bruno Borges Martins.
The location of an alleged second diver - 32-year-old Jhoni Fernandes Da Silva - remains unknown.
The State Crime Command's Organised Crime Squad took over the investigation under Strike Force Groove.
James Blake Blee Snr, 63, pleaded guilty last year to illegally smuggling the Brazilian nationals from Indonesia into Australia via Darwin so the pair could retrieve 108 kilograms of cocaine out of the sea chest of the bulk carrier Areti Gr Majuro.
Two days after Mr Borges-Martins' body and the cocaine were found floating in Newcastle Harbour, Blee Snr was arrested only moments before boarding a flight to Singapore with a one-way ticket and large quantities of US and Australian dollars.
Blee's son, Queenslander James Lake-Kusviandy Blee, who is the only other person arrested over the plot, has pleaded not guilty to aiding and abetting his father's importation and dealing with the proceeds of crime of more than $100,000.
As part of ongoing investigations, detectives identified Jhoni Fernandes Da Silva as a person of interest. He is believed to have stayed for one or two months in a granny flat at the rear of a home on Jedda Road, Lurnea.
Investigators subsequently executed a crime scene warrant at the premises about 5.45pm on Wednesday June 19.
Specialist officers forensically examined the residence including luminol, fingerprints and DNA.
Earlier this month police dug up a truck they believe was used in the failed cocaine smuggling plot
Organised Crime Squad detectives excavated the Mitsubishi Fuso at a property in Menangle, south-west of Sydney.
The discovery came several weeks after police renewed calls for information on the two-year anniversary of 31-year-old Bruno Borges-Martins' death in May 2022.
The truck was last seen travelling southbound on the M4 Motorway at Pennant Hills about 6.30pm on Sunday, May 8, 2022. Detectives are continuing to appeal for any information about a Toyota Townace van with the NSW registration WNY439 which was seen travelling with the truck.
Investigations under Strike Force Groove are continuing.
Anyone with information that may assist investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000.
