Suspicious behaviour near a grounded Sydney-bound flight in Johannesburg sparked a year-long investigation that culminated in a 100kg cocaine bust.
Five men were charged on Saturday, accused of being key players in an international plot to import $40 million of the illicit substance in the cargo hold of a passenger plane.
Officers had been monitoring the group closely for 12 months after receiving a tip-off from an airline.
AFP Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy said the arrival of the plane in Sydney at the weekend was the first time police had evidence of drug importation.
Two workers at Sydney International Airport, a 55-year-old Mascot man and a 61-year-old Coogee man, are accused of using their access to freight to facilitate the operation.
Ahmed Haouchar, 42, from Padstow is alleged to have been the primary facilitator of the scheme, while a 62-year-old Hillsdale man allegedly co-ordinated the airport workers' role in the plot.
Police say the two airport workers removed five large bags containing the cocaine from a container in the cargo hold of a Qantas aircraft that had recently arrived from South Africa on Saturday.
They transferred the bags to a car driven by a 24-year-old Sydney man outside the terminal.
Each of the five bags found in the car contained bricks of cocaine wrapped in black plastic, enough to make up 100,000 street deals.
The three men were arrested soon after the handover on Saturday afternoon, while two others were arrested later that evening.
A court on Monday heard Haouchar allegedly went by the name "De Niro" while organising the drug-smuggling operation and was caught by police answering a phone linked to that identity.
But his lawyer argued the prosecution case was weak and lacked proof of any "overt act" to back up a charge of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of the drug.
Haouchar was refused bail and will appear alongside his four co-accused at Downing Centre Local Court on November 30.
The police investigation was sparked in October last year after an airline reported suspicious activity near the cargo area of a Sydney-bound flight in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Investigations in Australia identified the two airport workers as being in the vicinity of the flight when it arrived in Sydney and removed items from the cargo hold.
The airline that made the initial report provided significant help to police along with Sydney Airport and the Australian Border Force.
Det Supt Cressy said people with trusted access in an airport precinct were critical to Australia's tourism and trade sectors.
But police would not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those who abused that trust to help organised crime, she said.
"The ultimate motivation for assisting organised criminal groups is greed, so (the workers) were going to be recipients of a cash reward," she told reporters on Monday.
"Trusted insiders and people with relevant access are approached by organised crime groups to facilitate the importation of drugs into our country.
"The access that is required is of interest to organised crime groups and that's precisely what the AFP and its partners are interested in investigating."
Australian officers based in South Africa are continuing investigations with local authorities.
