Pink cocaine drug bust triggers global investigation

More than 250 kilos of pink cocaine has been seized in Australia's largest drug bust involving the potentially deadly cocktail of illicit substances.

A Sydney man has been charged over the massive haul, which Australian Federal Police estimate had a potential street value of almost $38 million.

The AFP said an investigation was launched into a transnational drug syndicate in October.

It followed the interception of the drugs, packaged with images of the Pink Panther cartoon character, in air cargo marked as industrial and bound for suburban Sydney.

Federal police undertook a controlled delivery last week, where 252 kilos of the drugs arrived at a Castle Hill address and was allegedly accessed by a 21-year-old Matraville man.

He was arrested in Coogee a short time later and charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border controlled drug, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The man was refused bail at Downing Centre Local Court last Thursday and is expected to next face court in January.

Police say pink cocaine usually contains a mixture of ketamine, MDMA and other substances, rarely containing any cocaine.

AFP Acting Superintendent Stuart Millen said the "dangerous illicit drug cocktail" endangered the lives of users.

"The investigation is ongoing with our international partners and we expect that there will be more arrests to follow," he told reporters.

"We cannot overstate the community harm this importation would have caused if it had not been intercepted by authorities before reaching our streets.

"The AFP is closely monitoring an increase in pink cocaine detections, both in Australia and globally."

Acting Supt Millen said the AFP had examined more than 130 kilos of pink cocaine in Australia in 2024, estimating it could sell for about $150,000 per kilo.

He said it was hard to detect the presence of pink cocaine in wastewater, as it was usually made up of other drugs so would show as MDMA and ketamine.