Bukit Aman narcotics criminal investigation department director Kamarudin Din said they would be conducting further investigations into the shipment which arrived in Melbourne last week.

“We will do everything in our power to ensure that the smuggling and distribution of drugs can be curbed, without compromise,” he said in a brief statement.

A Malaysian was among four men arrested by Australian authorities over the drugs. Two 33-year-old Chinese nationals and a 32-year-old Hong Kong national were also detained.

They were later charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, an offence which provides for life imprisonment.

Australian Border Force officers had identified “anomalies” during an X-ray scan at the border when the shipment arrived via sea cargo from Malaysia on Oct 4.

They later found 622 green and gold tea packages weighing 1kg each, which were concealed within a pallet of toilet paper.

The drugs seized have a street value estimated at almost A$560 million (RM1.7 billion), said the Australian Border Force.