A New Zealand national appeared before Downing Centre Local Court on 3 February 2025 after being charged with allegedly attempting to smuggle 20kg of cocaine into Australia, concealed in his luggage.
Australian Border Force (ABF) officers reportedly uncovered the illicit drugs on Saturday (1 February 2025) when they selected the 21-year-old man for a baggage search upon his arrival at Sydney Airport from the United States.
During the search, officers allegedly found 22 vacuum-sealed packages of a white substance hidden in his suitcase. Initial testing confirmed the substance was cocaine, prompting ABF officers to alert the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
The AFP charged the man with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, an offence under section 307.1 of the Criminal Code (Cth) that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Authorities estimate the seized cocaine could have been sold as nearly 100,000 street deals, with a potential value of $6.5 million.
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Luke Needham highlighted the agency’s ongoing efforts to disrupt drug smuggling networks.
“This man is the third person charged by the AFP in the past fortnight for allegedly trying to smuggle illicit drugs into Australia hidden in luggage,” Det A/Supt Needham said.
“The AFP and its partners are working tirelessly to disrupt all levels of the drug trade and stop anyone who tries to profit at the expense of our community.”
ABF Superintendent Elke West credited officers’ intuition and training for the drug detection.
“Our officers are trained to detect changes in behaviour and body language and rely on their instincts when observing passengers,” Superintendent West said.
Support Our Journalism
The global Indian Diaspora and Australia’s multicultural communities need fair, non-hyphenated, and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. The Australia Today—with exceptional reporters, columnists, and editors—is doing just that. Sustaining this requires support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America, or India you can take a paid subscription by clicking Patreon