An Adelaide woman could face life in prison after being charged with attempting to smuggle 62 kilograms of cocaine, valued at approximately $20 million, into Australia.

Authorities intercepted the cocaine in February, after border officials discovered 62 individually wrapped packages of powder concealed within a shipment originating from Germany.

The illicit substances were cleverly hidden inside mechanical equipment that had been addressed to a business located in Adelaide.

Following this discovery, law enforcement conducted a search of a business in Kensington Park, situated in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs, which subsequently led to the arrest of an Adelaide man in July.

Further investigations culminated in the arrest of a 30-year-old woman from Prospect, who was taken into custody and charged yesterday.

She faces charges that include the importation of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, attempting to possess such a quantity, and failing to comply with a 3LA order.

The maximum penalty for the first two charges is life imprisonment and for the latter, 10 years imprisonment, a $198,000 fine, or both.

AFP Acting Superintendent Simon Lalic claimed hundreds of thousands of street deals had been stopped as a result of the bust.

“This seizure of these drugs has stopped a potential 310,000 individual street deals from causing significant harm to our communities and economy,” he said. 

“[It has] prevented the estimated $20.1 million proceeds from those sales going into the pockets of criminals.”

The woman was released on bail and will appear before Adelaide Magistrates Court on January 9 next year.