Three Charged Over Alleged 120kg Cocaine Import Concealed in Furniture

Three people have been arrested and charged in Melbourne following an investigation into the alleged importation of 120 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside furniture sent from Greece, according to authorities.

The Victorian Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (JOCTF)—comprising the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Victoria Police, Australian Border Force (ABF), and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission—arrested a 49-year-old woman and two men, aged 31 and 40, on Tuesday, 20 October 2026.

The operation began on 9 October 2026, when ABF officers identified anomalies in a consignment of two cabinets declared as household furniture arriving from Greece. An X-ray examination revealed 120 packages of suspected drugs, which presumptive testing indicated to be cocaine.

Taskforce officers removed the illicit substances and conducted a controlled delivery to a storage facility in Essendon. Authorities allege the 49-year-old woman from Pascoe Vale South was the consignee and coordinated the movement of the shipment from the facility.

Police allege the 31-year-old man from Rockbank transported the consignment to a property in Keilor, where the shipment was opened and divided. Part of the cargo was transferred to another vehicle and driven by the 40-year-old Cairnlea man to Glenroy, where he was arrested. The 31-year-old was intercepted and arrested in Rockbank, while the woman was arrested later that day in Pascoe Vale.

All three individuals were 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. The offences carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The defendants appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. The two men were remanded in custody after bail was formally refused, while the woman was granted conditional bail. All three are scheduled to return to court on 10 February 2027.

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