Horse lord arrested

Racing royalty Flower held over alleged cocaine smuggling

HIGH-PROFILE Australian racehorse owner Damion Flower has been charged over his alleged role in smuggling cocaine on commercial flights from South Africa.

The 47-year-old is one of three people arrested after authorities uncovered the alleged drug trafficking ring operating at Sydney Airport.

Flower and a 50-year-old airport worker were nabbed on Wednesday afternoon as part of the long-running investigation by NSW Police, Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force and the federal Department of Home Affairs. They allege the airport employee was using his airside access to import cocaine through the baggage holds of commercial flights.

Flower was allegedly one of two men police claim received the bags from the aircraft. Both have been charged with six counts of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.

It followed the arrest of a 42-year-old man near Sydney Airport on April 15. AFP officers allegedly found vacuumsealed packages in his vehicle, believed to be 27kg of cocaine.

He was arrested and charged. During the arrest of the 50-year-old airport worker from Oran Park on Wednesday, police allegedly found him in possession of a bag containing about 28kg of a substance believed to be cocaine.

Flower was later arrested outside his Moorebank home “for his alleged role in receiving imports of illegal drugs from the Oran Park man”, authorities said in a joint statement yesterday.

Police also raided six properties in Oran Park, Hoxton Park, Moorebank and Revesby. About $8 million in cash was found at the Hoxton Park address, linked to the Oran Park man.

Flower – an outright or part-owner of 50 horses, including one of Australia’s most in-demand stallions Snitzel – was scheduled to face Liverpool Local Court yesterday.