Adelaide woman charged after failed alleged $20 million cocaine importation

An Adelaide woman is facing possible life imprisonment if convicted after being charged with trying to import 62kg of cocaine with a value of around $20 million into Australia.

The cocaine was initially intercepted in February after border officers found 62 individually wrapped packages of powder in a consignment from Germany.

The drugs were hidden inside mechanical equipment, which was addressed to a business in Adelaide.

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A business in Kensington Park in Adelaide's east was searched later that month, which ultimately led to the arrest of an Adelaide man in July.

The investigation led to a 30-year-old Prospect woman being arrested and charged yesterday.

She has been charged with one count of importation of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, one count of attempt to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, and failure to comply with a 3LA order.

The maximum penalty for the first two charges is life imprisonment and for the latter, 10 years imprisonment, a $198,000 fine, or both.

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AFP Acting Superintendent Simon Lalic claimed hundreds of thousands of street deals had been stopped as a result of the bust.

"This seizure of these drugs has stopped a potential 310,000 individual street deals from causing significant harm to our communities and economy," he said. 

"[It has] prevented the estimated $20.1 million proceeds from those sales going into the pockets of criminals."

The woman was released on bail and will appear before Adelaide Magistrates Court on January 9 next year.

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