Australian police seize record $104 mln heroin shipment

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian police said on Saturday they seized the largest heroin shipment ever detected in the country, worth an estimated A$140 million ($104 million), and arrested a Malaysian national over the importation of the illicit drug.

The 450-kg (990-pound) shipment - as heavy as a grand piano - was detected in a sea freight container of ceramic tiles sent from Malaysia and addressed to a Melbourne business, the police said in a statement.

The police did not name the arrested man, a typical practice in Australia unless the police deem the identification of the suspect in the interest of a victim's family or the public.

The man was charged with importing and attempted possession of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment, the police said.