Australian police charge three for importing drugs over 300 kg from West Africa

Three people in two Australian states have been charged by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) following a failed 320kg methamphetamine importation from West Africa.

A UK woman is expected to appear before the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday, June 18, for her alleged role in the failed import. The woman was refused bail by the court last month after being charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of border-controlled drug.

An Adelaide-based couple, 30 and 32, were charged in April 2026 over their alleged involvement in the criminal venture.

The AFP launched an investigation in April 2026 after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers in Sydney’s Port Botany detected anomalies in two shipping containers from Ghana.

The consignment, which was purported to be bags of charcoal, was subsequently X-rayed with ABF officers locating a white crystallised substance. Preliminary testing returned a positive result for methamphetamine.

Forensic testing established the consignment contained about 320 kg of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of AU$296 million (US$208 million). The drugs were removed and the consignment was delivered to a storage facility in Girraween on April 20.

The UK national had allegedly attended the storage facility and supervised a number of men as they unpacked the container. A number of bags were loaded into a vehicle and driven to a house in Blacktown.

A short time later, AFP investigators executed a search warrant at a Blacktown home, where the woman was arrested.

Police located 32 bags at the house, which were allegedly those that had previously contained methamphetamine. Electronic devices and a notebook were also seized and will be subject to further forensic examination.

The woman was charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs, contrary to subsection 307.5 of the Criminal Code (Cth). The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.

Further inquiries resulted in AFP investigators executing an additional search warrant at a house in Oakden, South Australia, on April 30. A woman, 30, and a man, 32, were arrested by AFP investigators for allegedly attempting to rent storage units in Sydney to house the consignment by using false identities.

Inquiries into their exact role in this criminal venture are ongoing.

The pair appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court on May 1, 2026, each charged with one count of dealing in identification information using a carriage service with the intention that any person would use the identification information to pretend to be, or to pass themselves off as, another person for the purpose of facilitating the commission of an offence; and one count failing to comply with a 3LA order issued by the Magistrates Court of South Australia.

The couple were remanded in custody to reappear in Adelaide Magistrates Court on August 2, 2026.