JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
3 May 2008
Fifth man charged over $8.4 million heroin haul
A 53-year-old dual Portuguese-Australian national will face Parramatta Local
Court tomorrow charged with conspiring to import 28 kilograms of heroin.
The man was detained in Yogyakarta by Indonesian National Police on 24
March. He was deported from Indonesia yesterday.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) arrested the man at Sydney Airport this morning
after he arrived on a flight from Jakarta.
He is the fifth person charged in relation to a joint-agency investigation into the
importation of heroin in a consignment of wooden furniture.
The operation, which included members of the NSW Police Force, NSW Crime
Commission, the AFP and Customs, resulted in the arrest of four people on 21
March.
Acting on intelligence, Customs officers discovered heroin, with an estimated
street value of $8.4 million, hidden in three chests of drawers that arrived in
Sydney by sea on 22 February.
A
57-year-old Shellharbour man, two Sydney men aged 54 and 48 and a
43-year-old Adelaide man faced court in Sydney and Adelaide on 25 March
charged with importing and attempting to possess a commercial quantity of
heroin.
The 53-year-old man arrested today was charged with conspiring to import a
border controlled drug contrary to the Criminal Code Act 1995.
The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years imprisonment and/or a
$550,000 fine.
Media inquiries:
AFP Media (Canberra)
(02) 6275 7100
Customs Media
(02) 6275 6793
NSW Police Force Media
(02) 8263 6100
NEWS 
