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A man has been charged after allegedly attempting to import 35 kilograms of heroin into Australia hidden stuffed in a model truck.
The 21-year-old from Laos in south-east Asia is accused of conspiring to import the mammoth haul, which has an estimated street value of over $14 million and is the equivalent of 175,000 street deals in New South Wales.
The truck - which weighed over 100 kilograms – was intercepted at Port Botany in Sydney after it arrived from Thailand on March 16.
Officers dismantled the model, discovered its contents, then repackaged it back up and delivered it to an apartment building in Haymarket in Sydney on March 30.
There, the man was arrested after he accepted the delivery.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided a different address allegedly linked to the man where a number of other items were seized for further examination.
AFP Sergeant Alex Drummond said it's unlikely the man was acting alone.
"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," 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."
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Australian Border Force Superintendent Jared Leighton said the haul was a "bold" and "audacious" attempt to import illegal drugs.
"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," Superintendent Leighton said.
"Regardless of how these criminal syndicates try to conceal or hide these illicit drugs, the ABF will find them while those doing the wrong thing will find themselves facing the consequences of their actions.
"We always work together closely with our law enforcement partners, and this arrest sends a very strong message to those seeking to profit by harming the Australian community."
The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.
If this amount of heroin had reached the Australian community, the estimated total social cost would have been more than $45 million – through crime, increased healthcare and justice costs, and loss of productivity.
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