The arrest of two men who allegedly raped a woman in Brisbane more than five years ago shows no case is ever considered "unsolvable", detectives say.
The 20-year-old was walking along Manning Street, South Brisbane, to catch a bus home after leaving a nearby venue late at night in mid-April, 2011, when she was set upon.
Two men allegedly forced her into an alleyway and she suffered severe internal and external injuries during the attack.
Police last week made a fresh appeal for information after detectives from the sex crime unit joined the investigation and on Wednesday morning, two local men were charged.
A 24-year-old arrested in Brisbane and a 32-year-old who was arrested in northern NSW both face charges of rape, sexual assault and deprivation of liberty.
The pair are known to one another.
Detective Inspector Garry Watts wouldn't reveal what new information led to the breakthrough, but said the renewed appeal played a role.
"It certainly assisted, yes, I can say that," he said in Brisbane.
"We have received a lot of information from the public both recently and back in 2011."
The younger man will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday morning while Queensland detectives are travelling to Lismore to seek the extradition of his co-accused.
Det Insp Watts said the victim had been told of the development.
"She expressed relief that the two offenders have been caught and are currently before the courts," he said.
The matter was never labelled as "too hard" and the result should give other victims hope their matters would also be finalised, Det Insp Watts said.
"We do not ever classify a matter as unsolvable," he said.
"It's always unsolved until solved."
In 2011, Inspector Rod Kemp said the woman was "aggressively raped in the worst way" he had seen in his service.
Det Insp Watts said forensic evidence was still being retested using modern techniques.
