drug bust

Last week, the two main suspects were charged and remanded after a raid on a house on Tahiti's peninsula where they had set up a lab to produce the banned drug.

The five were allegedly also involved in the operation by buying medicines at pharmacies to make methamphetamine.

They were reportedly given some of the drug in return.

The couple at the centre of the operation are in their mid-30s.

If convicted, they could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The suspect was arrested Tuesday by the Police Drug Taskforce with the assistance of Customs and Tonga Airport Limited.

The drugs were in the suspect’s possession when police arrested him from inside the departure transit area.

Cash in different currencies with approximate value of TOP$10,000 was also seized.

Police said it is clear that the suspect intended to smuggle the drugs out from Tonga to New Zealand.

The monk was first stopped in Rakhine state with 400,000 tablets in his car.

No value has been placed on the hauls, although in 2015 the UN estimated the retail price of a methamphetamine tablet was about $2 - making the latest consignment worth about $9.2m (£7.3m).

Myanmar has emerged as a top producer of illegal drugs in recent years.

The senior monk, named only as Arsara, was arrested after police discovered the first consignment of tablets in his car as he was driving to the town of Maungdaw bordering Bangladesh.

Officers from the Australian Border Force (ABF), with the help of sniffer dogs, searched the ship's passenger cabins on Sunday and allegedly found 95 kilograms of the drug packed into suitcaseses.

Andre Tamine, 63, Isabelle Legace, 28, and Melina Roberce, 23, faced charges of importing a commercial quantity of cocaine when they appeared in court today.

They appeared in Sydney's Central Local court via video link from police custody.

The trio did not apply for bail and it was formally refused. They will remain in custody until their next appearance on October 26.