A Canberra man accused of importing more than 350 kilograms of ecstasy, stashed in buckets of chlorine and bound for a Fyshwick pool supplies company, is set to fight the charges.
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Tamim Jamaal Nozhat, 23, was arrested months after border force authorities in Sydney allegedly spotted "anomalies" in an air cargo consignment of pool cleaner from Hamburg in Germany that was headed to the ACT in May.
Mr Nozhat, of Crace, is behind bars charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug after he was arrested at a Lawson construction site and refused bail in the ACT Magistrates Court earlier this month.
Police allege eight cardboard boxes authorities seized contained 144 buckets marked as chlorine.
Nestled in the loose powder chlorine were vacuum sealed bags containing an off-white crystal substance, which tested positive to MDMA.
Police allegedly found more than 356 kilograms of the drug with the potential to make 1.2 million tablets. The haul had an estimated street value of up to $40.5 million.
The pure weight of MDMA was allegedly 279 kilograms.
Documents previously tendered in court said Mr Nozhat started pool cleaning company Wholesale Pool Supplies, of which he was sole director, and used a suspected false identity to import the drugs into Australia.
He is alleged to have rented the commercial property in Fyshwick where the consignment was addressed.
Mr Nozhat appeared in court briefly on Wednesday, when defence lawyer Michael Kukulies-Smith entered a plea of not guilty to the charge on his client's behalf.
Police previously said outside court the operation was the most significant ever bust of drugs destined for the ACT.
"The impact on the community, if that had hit the streets, would have been quite significant," he said.
They said the intended recipient of the MDMA was part of an ongoing broader organised crime investigation.
The case returns to court for a pre-hearing mention on February 22.
