Recording devices placed on an excavator captured the "frustration" of man who cut it open after police had removed hundreds of kilos of MDMA, a court has heard.
Tony Maaz, 35, has pleaded not guilty to attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, namely MDMA.
Maaz purchased an orange Doosan excavator through an online auction site he had previously bought construction equipment from, before it was shipped to one of his company's building sites in Sydney's west.
Prior to Maaz's purchase, the Australian Border Force became suspicious of an X-ray taken after the 42-tonne excavator arrived at the Port of Brisbane from Southampton, UK in March 2020.
Australian Federal Police were called in to examine, finding and removing 226 bags containing a crystalline substance later identified as MDMA with an estimated wholesale value of more than $13 million.
An AFP crime scene officer involved in the examination, Sloan Hamilton, told the NSW District Court on Thursday she was unsure how the drugs got in the excavator.
"We could only assume entry was gained in a similar way to (what) our team did but there was nothing obvious when we made entry," she said on Thursday.
An angle grinder was used to access two cavities on the excavator, where the drugs were found alongside lead sheeting, insulation and a fire blanket.
Surveillance devices and a location tracker were fitted before it was allowed to continue to an auction company on the Gold Coast and was listed for sale on April 16, 2020.
Crown prosecutor David Barrow told the court Maaz was the only person who bid on the auction the day it went live, just eclipsing what he described as a "secret reserve".
The UK seller made a counter-offer and Maaz agreed to pay $288,000.
Mr Barrow said it was not a genuine negotiation between two transacting parties.
"The prosecution alleges this was just a great deception to give it a veneer of legitimacy," he said.
Maaz had earlier placed two similar Doosan excavators on his "watchlist" on the auction site but did not place bids on either.
He received the excavator on May 7, 2020, by which point Mr Barrow said the AFP had already begun surveilling the Blacktown building site it was delivered to.
The sounds of power tools, conversations recorded on listening devices, and vision of Maaz driving the excavator are all expected to be put before the jury.
"The listening device conversations record their puzzlement, their frustration," Mr Barrow said.
"Bro, they better f***ing give us money these c***s ... we have done the right thing," Maaz can be heard saying in one excerpt quoted by Mr Barrow.
"I've cut it now five times, four times, they are f***ing us around," Maaz was allegedly recorded as saying the next day.
A welder allegedly called in to undo the damage and a commercial printer who made new stickers to allegedly cover up any signs are also expected to give evidence, Mr Barrow said.
The orange Doosan excavator remained on the Blacktown building site for about seven months before the AFP seized it and charged Maaz on December 9, 2020.
The trial continues before Judge Mark Buscombe.
