A 55-year-old Singaporean man was charged on Tuesday, February 25, charged with importing 40kg of drugs into Australia on an international flight.
Shanmugam Sundar Darmaraju was arrested by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers when he arrived in Sydney on a flight from Malaysia on February 20. He faces two counts of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
On Tuesday, he appeared at Downing Centre Local Court, but he was refused bail.
The ABF and Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a joint news release, "The man allegedly claimed he was not travelling with any checked luggage and was initially cleared to depart Sydney Airport."
However, two suitcases that were left on a luggage carousel and allegedly had identification tags with the man's name on them were later discovered by ABF officials.
About 32 kilograms of methamphetamine and 8 kg of cocaine were found in the luggage. After seizing them, the cops started looking for the passenger.
Shanmugam was arrested at the airport on February 21 while trying to catch an aircraft to Malaysia after traveling from Sydney to Adelaide. Prior to being extradited to New South Wales to face charges, he made his first appearance in Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday.
The seized methamphetamine has an estimated street value of A$29.6 million (US$18.8 million) while the cocaine was thought to be worth A$2.6 million. The offences carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
In response to CNA's queries, Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said it was aware of reports that a 55-year-old Singaporean man had been arrested in Australia for suspected drug-related offences.
A spokesperson told the portal, "CNB will render the required assistance to our counterparts in Australia to aid their investigation. As their investigation is ongoing, it is inappropriate to comment further at this point in time."
