Singaporean man charged with importing 40kg of drugs into Australia

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man was on Tuesday (Feb 25) charged with importing 40kg of drugs into Australia on an international flight.

Shanmugam Sundar Darmaraju faces two counts of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. He appeared at Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday and was refused bail.

The 55-year-old man was stopped by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers when he arrived in Sydney on a flight from Malaysia on Feb 20.

"The man allegedly claimed he was not travelling with any checked luggage and was initially cleared to depart Sydney Airport," said the ABF and Australian Federal Police (AFP) in a joint news release.

ABF officers subsequently found two suitcases abandoned on a luggage carousel, which purportedly had identification tags on them with the man's name.

The suitcases contained about 32kg of methamphetamine and 8kg of cocaine. They were seized by the police and they began the search for the passenger.

Shanmugam travelled from Sydney to Adelaide, where he was arrested at the airport on Feb 21 while attempting to board a flight to Malaysia.

He initially appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday before he was extradited to New South Wales to face charges.

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. 

"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," said a spokesperson.