Northern Territory Police have seized a quantity of alcohol from a vessel destined for the Tiwi Islands on Saturday 4 April 2020.

At around 11:30am, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) notified Water Police officers of an emergency beacon activation near North West Vernon Island.

Water Police responded and commenced surface searching of the area. Airborne searching was conducted by a Careflight helicopter. The beacon was turned off and the vessel was located by police in the Vernon Islands approximately one hour later with four men on board aged 27, 29, 32 and 49. A search of the vessel located four cartons of beer and two bottles of spirits.

Senior Constable Christian Holzfeind said, “It’s disappointing to see emergency resources deployed only to find people ignoring the efforts of a community to restrict access to alcohol. The laws are designed to protect everyone and reduce alcohol fuelled violence”.

“Police routinely patrol the waters to ensure illegal smuggling of alcohol doesn’t impact our communities”.

“If anyone has information on illicit substances being transported to communities, you can phone police on 131 444 of Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000”.