A NSW man has been extradited to Victoria over an alleged plot to smuggle methamphetamine into Victoria, hidden inside surfboards.
The 36-year-old man from Punchbowl was arrested in Sydney on Wednesday morning, before being extradited to Victoria that afternoon.
Police allege the man is part of a Melbourne-based Chinese/Taiwanese drug syndicate.
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Two other men, both aged 33 from Burwood and Ferntree Gully, were also arrested last year, allegedly connected to the syndicate.
Victoria Police allege the men are linked to a 78kg importation of methamphetamine, which was hidden inside a shipment of surfboards when it arrived in Melbourne via air cargo from Los Angeles, US, on August 11, 2023.
The package was intercepted by the ABF, who passed the investigation to the AFP.
The AFP found white powder concealed inside the surfboards and allegedly confirmed it was methamphetamine with forensic testing.
AFP agents replaced the illicit drug with a fake substance and facilitated a controlled delivery to an address in Dandenong South on August 23.
They then watched as the two men from Punchbowl and Burwood allegedly collected the delivery from a storage unit on August 25, before loading 12 surfboards into a car and driving them to a home in Punchbowl, Sydney.
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The man from Punchbowl was charged with possessing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
He was remanded in custody and will appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on October 18.
The men from Burwood and Ferntree Gully were both charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and possessing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug in September last year.
Anyone with information about illicit drug activity is urged to contact crime stoppers.
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