$43m meth haul takes hits off streets

More than half a million hits of ice have been taken off the streets with Customs uncovering $43 million worth of the drug imported in wooden pallets.

Officers detected the haul using an X-ray machine at a Sydney container facility last month before setting up a sting to snare the intended receiver.

Police allege there was about 65kg of the illicit drug hidden in the flat-pack cabinet materials, with an estimated street value of $43 million.

Crystal meth users typically use 0.1 of a gram in a single hit, according to the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

The drugs were allegedly swapped with a fake substance and delivered to a storage facility in Rosebery in Sydney's southeast on Monday.

Po Wai Tam, 55, allegedly began pulling the package apart before he was arrested.

He's been charged with possessing and importing a commercial quantity of drugs.

The Chinese national didn't apply for bail at Central Local Court on Thursday and will remain behind bars until his matter is heard again on January 14.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) manager Ray Johnson said a large number of ice hits had been removed from the streets.

"It will have a significant impact (on supply)," he said.

Police don't believe Tam was acting alone because 65kg of ice was a "significant investment".

The seizure comes with the number of ice detections by Customs rising from 171 in 2011-12 to 1300 in the past financial year.

Mr Johnson said Australia was an attractive market for organised crime.

"Because it's an affluent democracy and there are a number of people in Australia that have an appetite for illicit drugs," he said.