A long-time friend of fallen AFL star Ben Cousins has appeared in a Sydney court over the seizure of 45kg of ecstasy in Perth.
The haul is believed to be the biggest of its kind in West Australian history.
Fabian Quaid, 31, on Thursday faced Central Local Court charged with trafficking in a commercial quantity of a controlled drug.
Quaid, arrested on Wednesday at his home in Sydney's northern beaches, was the fourth man charged over an international drug syndicate.
The former taekwondo expert is an old friend of disgraced former West Coast star Cousins.
Cousins reportedly laid low at Quaid's Manly apartment following an alleged cocaine binge in Los Angeles last year that landed him in an LA hospital.
On Monday, police arrested three members of the alleged drug ring in Perth, after last month seizing the 45kg of MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy) from a house in the suburb of Lockridge.
The MDMA powder had been replaced with another substance without the alleged drug syndicate members' knowledge.
It could have been used to make at least 150,000 ecstasy pills worth $4.7 million, Australian Federal Police estimated.
A 58-year-old Sydney man and a 31-year-old Melbourne man have been charged with importing and attempting to possess a commercial quantity of MDMA.
A 39-year-old man from Queensland has been charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of MDMA.
The three appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday and were remanded in custody.
In a brief hearing on Thursday, Quaid did not apply for bail and it was formally refused.
He was remanded in custody until June 6 when he will appear at the same court via audio-visual link.
ninemsn 22 May 2008
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