A man has denied trafficking a commercial quantity of cocaine and methamphetamine in connection to an alleged $3.5 million drug haul bound for the ACT.
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Al Mussa faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday as part of an ongoing investigation by the ACT Policing drugs and organised crime team.
The 38-year-old pleaded not guilty to two counts of trafficking a commercial quantity of a controlled drug, namely methamphetamine and cocaine.
He also pleaded not guilty a single charge of participating in a criminal group.
Mussa's lawyer, Tom Taylor, did not apply for bail but indicated he would make an application on Friday.
The latest arrest follows on from a police operation on the Barton Highway last week, when a Ford Transit van allegedly driven by co-accused Andrew James O'Keefe, 33, was stopped and searched.
Police said the van was found to contain more than five kilograms of methamphetamine, encrypted mobile devices and approximately 500 grams of boric acid, a known cutting agent.
Police estimate the drugs had a street value of about $3.5 million.
The drugs were allegedly secreted inside a sophisticated hydraulically-sealed compartment in the vehicle.
O'Keefe initially was refused bail but this week reapplied, and it was granted.
O'Keefe has pleaded not guilty to one count of participating in a criminal group and two counts of trafficking a commercial quantity of a controlled drug.
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Acting on information from O'Keefe's arrest, about 10.20am on Tuesday, police executed a search warrant at a business on Collie Street, Fyshwick.
During this warrant, police allegedly located a number of items of evidentiary value, while they also seized a sum of cash and a white Toyota Hilux utility. Mussa was subsequently arrested at the location.
Mussa was remanded in custody and is set to apply for bail on Friday. He is then scheduled to appear in court again, with O'Keefe, on August 16.
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