A Sydney man is expected to appear before NSW Bail Division Court today (14 November, 2025), charged over the importation of 22kg of cocaine into Australia from South Africa hidden inside suitcases.
Australian Border Force (ABF) officers stopped the Liverpool man, 25, for a baggage examination after he disembarked a flight from Johannesburg via Doha, Qatar to Sydney.
ABF officers located 22 packages wrapped in plastic inside the suitcases. The packages contained a white powder and presumptive testing of the substance returned a positive result for cocaine.
The ABF referred the matter to the AFP, who seized the packages and charged the man with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, namely cocaine, contrary to section 307.1(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
