Court documents show Buddle has also been charged with conspiring – between March 19 and June 3, 2021 – to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
Each offense carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Mark Buddle’s solicitor Stephen Zahr outside Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday.Credit:Nine News
The court documents also reveal Melbourne magistrate Julie Grainger granted investigators a warrant to arrest Buddle on July 23.
He’d arrived in Melbourne early on Friday on a chartered flight from Darwin, flanked by AFP officers, after a court approved his extradition from the Northern Territory.
The 37-year-old had been living abroad for six years after leaving Australia for Turkey, and then northern Cyprus, in 2016.
Following the cocaine seizure in 2021, federal authorities issued a global arrest alert. Buddle was apprehended by Turkish authorities in June and held in Ankara before being deported back to Australia this week.
Buddle arrives back in Melbourne.Credit:AFP
Australian investigators will allege Buddle was involved in a transnational criminal syndicate operating out of Hong Kong and Turkey, that saw 160 kilograms of cocaine – with an estimated street value of $40 million – imported to Melbourne but then seized by authorities.
On Tuesday, the AFP revealed federal investigators began preparing for Buddle’s arrest in October 2021 before Interpol issued a red notice – a global alert – for his capture.
His extradition came months after five people were arrested in connection to the importation, which was concealed in a shipment of air filters. Those five included the alleged co-ordinator of the crime syndicate, a 42-year-old Sydney man, and four Victorians.
The Sydney man was charged with importing a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs. Three Melbourne men were also remanded on allegations they played a role in the collection and distribution of the cocaine shipment.
Magistrate Kieran Gilligan ordered Buddle return to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on November 25 via video link.
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