Two men have been charged for allegedly smuggling 98kg of methamphetamine, hidden in wheat thresher machines, into Australia.
Police allege the pair have links to Afghani organised crime and arranged to receive the drugs from a ship that left Dubai and arrived in Melbourne in late November.
Police said they had received tip-offs from colleagues in Dubai and Serbia, and found the drugs hidden inside drive shafts.
Wheat thresher machines are used to separate seeds from stalks.
Investigators delivered the machines without the drugs to Oakleigh South in south-east Melbourne, and the equipment was unloaded on the side of a road.
It is alleged a 30-year-old man from Tullamarine oversaw the machines being moved to a property in the regional suburb of Dewhurst, outside Melbourne. Police searched the Dewhurst property and a home at Tullamarine.
Officers found items alleged to be used for a clandestine laboratory.
The Tullamarine man, as well as a 34-year-old man from Croydon Hills, were arrested. The Croydon Hills man is alleged to have directed the Tullamarine man.
Both appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on December 21.
The Tullamarine man has been charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.
The Croydon Hills man has been charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug. Both offences carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The men are expected to next face court on March 13.