The 40-year-old is accused of visiting a dead drop, which is a secret spot for picking up illegal drugs, in Alexandria yesterday.
The Australian Federal Police said officers had intervened and placed 30kg of an inert substance in the package.
The man allegedly removed a sports bag from a parked van and returned to his home in Double Bay.
Police said the man was allegedly an intended recipient of a cocaine importation facilitated by a criminal syndicate offshore.
Two search warrants were carried out on a Double Bay home and a nearby unit, where the man was arrested by AFP officers.
Police said they seized multiple encrypted mobile devices, the sports bag containing inert substitute material and an amount of anabolic steroids.
AFP detective superintendent Morgen Blunden stated that 30kg of cocaine had an estimated street value of $9.7 million and could amount to around 150,000 individual street-level deals.
The man is scheduled to appear in Parramatta Local Court to face charges for attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported border-controlled drugs.
If the 40-year-old is convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
