On 12 December 2016, Tactical Assault Group members from TAG EAST conducted a boarding of the 50m former Japanese whaling vessel Kaiyo Maru No. 8 (KM8) in international waters in the Southern Ocean south east of Tasmania after it was intercepted by HMAS Adelaide. The vessel had been monitored by Maritime Border Command loitering and circling more than 200 nautical miles off the southern coast of Australia and was suspected to be involved in drug smuggling. Details of the boarding were not released by Defence but by law enforcement, however, imagery released by Defence shows TAG members in Air Drop Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (ADRHIB) deploying from Adelaide. Tactical Assault Group members discovered 186 kilograms of cocaine worth $60 million on board KM8 with ten crew members nine from China and one from Singapore detained. Adelaide had been in the area taking part in Exercise Ocean Raider 2016.
