Canberra police have seized 10 kilograms of methamphetamine – worth about $10 million – hidden inside a statue imported from China.
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A 32-year-old Nigerian man is in custody after a sting involving ACT Policing, Federal Police Crime Operations and the Australian Border Force.
ABF officers became suspicious of a package – addressed to a Kaleen property – containing the three 20 kilogram statues when it arrived in Australia from China on October 8.
An examination revealed an estimated 10 kilograms of ice concealed in one of the statues.
The drugs were seized, replaced with an inert substance, and the package was then delivered to the Kaleen address on October 16.
Police watched as the three statues were collected by the Nigerian man and driven to a second address in Kaleen, where the package was opened
The drugs were then removed from the statue.
ACT Policing arrested the man at the Jolimont Centre on Saturday morning as he tried to board a bus to Sydney.
Police allege he had the packages that had been removed from the statue in his possession.
A raid of the second Kaleen home located similar packaging and statues.
AFP Forensics examined the premises and ACT Policing's Criminal Investigations seized a vehicle as a tainted criminal asset.
The man – who arrived in Australia in July this year on a student visa – will face the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday, where he will be charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border controlled drug.
The maximum penalty for the offence is life imprisonment.
ACT Policing Drugs and Organised Crime team leader Detective Sergeant Bill Freeman said the attempted drug smuggling operation was part of an "organised crime syndicate with national and international links, from what we've discovered so far".
"10 kilograms is a significant seizure for the Australian Capital Territory," he said.
"On the national scale, it's not as big but definitely for the ACT that would break down to quite a significant amount of drugs taken off the streets."
Asked if the drug bust was part of a larger smuggling operation, Detective Sergeant Freeman said police were pursuing "other avenues of inquiry".
He would not speculate on the possibility of further arrests and said this would depend on how the investigation unravelled.
Deputy Chief Police Officer Andrea Quinn credited the seizure to the collaboration between our law enforcement agencies.
"We continue to work closely with our partners to prevent this destructive drug reaching our streets," Commander Quinn said.
