POLICE have charged a man over a shipment of 35 kilograms of heroin that arrived in Port Botany last month.
The Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force began investigating the consignment under the codename Operation Tonka after ABF officers found heroin concealed in a model truck. The truck itself weighed more than 100 kilograms.
The sea freight consignment containing the model truck arrived in Port Botany from Thailand on 16 March.
Officers from AFP Forensics Crime Scenes removed the drugs and reconstructed the model truck, and the AFP High Volume Crime Team delivered it to an apartment building in Haymarket on 30 March.
A 21-year-old man from Laos was arrested when he accepted the delivery.
The AFP estimates the heroin haul had a wholesale value of about $10 million and a street value of more than $14 million.
AFP Sergeant Alex Drummond said it is rare that one person could import a commercial quantity of heroin into Australia on their own.
“There is typically an organised crime syndicate behind such importations because of the complexities in sourcing the heroin, the costs in sending it to Australia and the connections needed to sell it once onshore,” Sgt Drummond said.
“The AFP is working closely with its international law enforcement partners in Thailand and Laos to trace the origins of the heroin and identify other members of the syndicate behind this importation.”
ABF Superintendent Jared Leighton praised ABF officers for detecting the drugs in the unique concealment.
“Our officers are highly trained and experienced, so even bold and audacious attempts to conceal drugs – just like this one was – won’t be enough to get through our detection methods,” he Leighton said.
The man appeared in Downing Centre Local Court on 31 March and was refused bail to next appear in Sydney Downing Centre on 24 May.
He was charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug. The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.
