Alleged drug smuggler Mostafa Baluch arrested at Queensland and NSW border

A Sydney millionaire and alleged drug importer was flushed out of his hiding place with a very simple trick.

Police flushed alleged drug smuggler Mostafa Baluch out of his hiding place inside a truck with a simple knock on the wall.

The Sydney fugitive knocked back, thinking he was at his drop-off point across the border in Queensland, police said on Wednesday.

“He was surprised” to be met by officers, NSW Police detective superintendent Rob Critchlow told reporters.

The 1am arrest at the NSW-Queensland border crossing at Tweed Heads was the culmination of a two-week manhunt that was described as one of Australia’s most intensive.

Baluch allegedly cut off an ankle monitor and disappeared on October 25, days after he was granted bail.

Mostafa Baluch has been arrested.

Police searched high and low for the fugitive, checking out leads in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and NSW, and even monitoring the coast to prevent a potential escape by sea.

The 33-year-old was “desperate to leave Australia”, police said, and allegedly had contacts waiting for him in Europe. Investigators declined to say which country he was hoping to go to.

Instead his time on the lam ended at the border crossing.

Police had received intelligence Baluch might be hiding inside a truck and had checked a number of other vehicles before spotting the right one.

The truck inside which Baluch was travelling looked suspicious because it was improperly locked, Mr Critchlow said.

After Baluch answered the officer’s knock, he was found inside a grey Mercedes that was stored in a container on the back of the truck.

He was facing a court hearing in the Gold Coast suburb of Southport on Wednesday, and would face the same court again the following day.

NSW investigators who had hoped to reach the court on Wednesday were unable to do so because of Covid-19 restrictions, a police spokeswoman said.

It was unclear if Baluch would be extradited back to NSW by plane or by car across the border.

Detective Superintendent Robert Critchlow said Baluch was surprised to be caught. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Baluch, who owned Northbridge’s Cervo restaurant before it closed, is alleged to have been the financier behind a 900kg shipment of cocaine into Australia that had a street value of $270m.

As part of the search for Baluch, police raided two properties in Sydney’s west on Thursday.

Police seized more than $250,000 cash, about 200g of cocaine, 485g of an unknown substance, mobile phones and an electronic money counter as part of the raids in Potts Hill and Yagoona.

All items seized will undergo further forensic examination.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott was delighted at the news and called it a “great morning”, but Wednesday’s arrest also triggered him to apologise amid fears Baluch had fled overseas.

“My apologies to the international law enforcement agencies for putting them through the anxiety that they went through thinking that we would never see him again,” he told 2GB radio.

“You could imagine the anxiety among the law enforcement world when somebody like this is let loose and I’m still furious that the magistrate allowed him out on bail because we wouldn’t have had to send all these resources and go through all of this if he hadn’t been out on bail.”

He was arrested at the border after a joint operation.

Police also recently seized a black Range Rover believed to be owned by Baluch.

Early last year NSW Police began investigating an alleged international organised crime syndicate involved in the importation of drugs across Australia, North America and South America.

A tip-off from the NSW Police led to the US Navy seizing 870kg of cocaine off the Colombian coast and the United States Coast Guard seizing a further 900kg in a second ship off Ecuador.

Police allege the conspirators planned to supply 3000kg of cocaine – including the 1770kg that was seized off South America — and that Baluch was the sole financier of the 900kg shipment seized off Ecuador.

He was arrested in June and charged with a string of offences, including supplying a prohibited drug and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

– with additional reporting by Erin Lyons