MELBOURNE, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Australian authorities have charged three people over an attempt to import 120 kg of cocaine concealed in furniture.
The Australian Federal Police said on Friday that an investigation began on Oct. 9 when Australian Border Force officers detected anomalies in two cabinets that arrived in Melbourne from Greece.
Officers X-rayed the consignment, which was declared as household furniture, and located 120 packages of suspected drugs concealed within. Testing identified the substance as cocaine with a total weight of 120 kg.
The joint organized crime taskforce in the state of Victoria removed the illicit drugs and delivered the consignment to a storage facility in northwest Melbourne.
A 49-year-old woman allegedly attended the facility and coordinated the collection and movement of the cabinets. Two men, aged 31 and 40, were identified by police during the delivery.
All three were arrested after the shipment was separated and taken to addresses in west and northwest Melbourne.
They were each charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug. Both offenses carry maximum penalties of life imprisonment.
The two men were denied bail during initial court appearances on Wednesday, while the woman was granted conditional bail. They will return to court in February. ■
