AUTHORITIES have intercepted a shipping container containing 336 kilograms of heroin at Port of Brisbane.

They say the haul is the largest amount of heroin ever seized in Queensland and the second largest in Australia.

Australian Border Force officers found the drugs inside a shipping container that arrived at the Port of Brisbane on 13 March. It was shipped from Malaysia.

ABF officers examined the container and found hundreds of packages hidden inside two concrete blocks, each block weighing around 500 kilograms and marked as solar panel accessories.

The consignment was addressed to an industrial lot in Brendale, north of Brisbane.

Australian Federal Police investigators and ABF officers drilled into the concrete blocks and removed 960 packages, each containing about 350 grams of heroin.

Authorities removed the heroin from the concrete for a controlled delivery to the intended recipient at Brendale last Tuesday (28 March).

A Sydney man, 55, allegedly collected the consignment in a rented truck in Brisbane and transported it to New South Wales, delivering it to an industrial shed in Mount Druitt.

The man, from Auburn, returned to the shed and allegedly used industrial tools to cut into the concrete and access the heroin hidden inside the display stands.

AFP officers arrested the man as he left the shed.

He faced Parramatta Local Court on 1 April. He was charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs and one count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs.

The maximum penalty for both offences is life imprisonment.

The ABF and AFP said the 336 kilogram seizure is the second largest onshore detection of heroin in Australian law enforcement history. The largest was a seizure of 450 kilograms of heroin in Melbourne in 2021.

AFP Commander John Tanti said the AFP is uniquely placed to fight drug trafficking in the region because of its international network and close partnerships with overseas law enforcement agencies.

“The AFP is committed to stopping criminals using the Pacific as a maritime drug highway and will continue to identify and disrupt transnational organised crime syndicates seeking to harm Australia and generate millions of dollars of profits from criminal activity,” he said.

“The investigation is ongoing and further arrests can’t be ruled out.”

ABF Commander James Copeman commended the ABF officers who detected the suspect consignment after it arrived at Port of Brisbane.

“The dedication and experience of our officers working at our state-of-the-art container examination facility ensured that this massive shipment of heroin never stood a chance of hitting Australian streets,” Commander Copeman said.