Real estate agent Gerardo Penna charged over alleged $4 million meth importation

Gerardo Penna, 40, is now behind bars after declining to apply for bail during a brief appearance in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday afternoon.

He pleaded not guilty, through lawyer Sarah Boxall, to charges of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported methylamphetamine and trafficking in the same drug.

Mr Penna, who appeared from a remote room while wearing a hooded jumper, did not speak and was remanded in custody by magistrate James Lawton.

His arrest follows that of Bonner woman Priscilla Palombi, 39, who was refused bail on Wednesday after being charged with attempting to possess the same allegedly imported methylamphetamine.

ACT Policing has said a package containing the drugs, weighing about 4.5 kilograms, was intercepted by the Australian Border Force when it arrived in the country on November 3.

Police claim to have replaced the methylamphetamine with an inert substance and tracked the package to a Bonner home they allege was its intended destination last week.

Officers from the ACT Policing drugs and organised crime team subsequently raided the place and arrested Ms Palombi, who did not enter a plea or seek conditional liberty when she appeared in court on Wednesday.

Police said that day that there remained an active investigation into the consignment, and Mr Penna is understood to have surrendered himself on Thursday morning after investigators made contact with him.

In a statement, police said they had executed a search warrant in Mr Penna's home suburb of Page on Tuesday.

"During the warrant, methylamphetamine was located, along with drug paraphernalia, suspected stolen property and more than $15,000 in cash," police said.

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ACT Policing still expects to lay more charges in connection with the investigation.

Mr Penna is scheduled to face court again on January 13, while Ms Palombi is due back for the entry of a plea on December 14.

The amount of methylamphetamine allegedly in the imported package would yield up to 45,000 street deals.

In an unrelated case, 23-year-old Gordon man Kyle Wilson was refused bail on Thursday morning after he was charged over the alleged importation of one kilogram of cocaine from Nigeria.

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