A New Zealand woman has been arrested after allegedly attempting to smuggle 52kg of methamphetamine into Australia.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers arrested the 23-year-old New Zealand woman alongside a 21-year-old New South Wales woman at Sydney Airport on October 28.

The pair were allegedly caught attempting to smuggle 52kg of methamphetamine into Australia on board a flight from Singapore.

Australian Border Force (ABF) officers conducted a routine baggage examination and allegedly detected 52 packages labelled as Chinese tea, each containing about 1kg of a white substance.

“It will be alleged that presumptive testing of the substance indicated a positive result for methamphetamine,” AFP and ABF said in a statement.

Both women have been charged with “importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug”.

They appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court on October 29 and are expected back in court next year on January 15.

ABF officers conducted a routine baggage examination and allegedly detected 52 packages labelled as Chinese tea, which tested positive for methamphetamine. Photo / AFP

The AFP and ABF thwarted two more separate alleged plots to smuggle illicit drugs into Australia through Melbourne and Sydney airports across the same 24-hour period.

Two United Kingdom women were detained after ABF officers allegedly detected 26kg of cocaine concealed in a suitcase after they arrived at Melbourne Airport from Mexico.

A Northern Ireland dual national was charged for allegedly attempting to smuggle about 25kg of methamphetamine into Australia from Thailand.

Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.