A Queanbeyan man has faced trial over the discovery of more than 270 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside an excavator imported from South Africa.
Police intercepted the excavator when it arrived in Australia by ship at Port Kembla in June 2019.
An x-ray revealed there were 384 packages inside the arm of the excavator, which contained 276 kilograms of cocaine with a purity of 83 per cent.
Police replaced the cocaine with a legal substance and put the packages back inside the digger.
They put surveillance devices on it and allowed it to continue on its way to Bungendore, 40 minutes east of Canberra.
In July it arrived at Bungendore Landscape Supplies, the struggling business owned by Timothy Engstrom and his close friend.
Mr Engstrom pleaded not guilty to possessing a commercial quantity of a border control drug in the NSW District Court yesterday.
'Every man for himself'
The NSW District Court trial heard excerpts from conversations between the two men from covert police recordings.
It included discussions to keep two cars ready on the property as Mr Engstrom said "It's good to have a f***ing contingency".
The court also heard he said "it would be every man for himself" if things went bad.
Prosecutor Adam McGrath told the court once the excavator had arrived, the pair were recorded talking about their plans.
"[They were] discussing their plans for the forthcoming Sunday, when they were going to retrieve the drugs," he said.
Mr McGrath told the jury Mr Engstrom cut open the digger with an angle grinder and his partner pulled out the packages, and the pair then fist pumped.
Police arrived on the scene a short time later.
Mr Engstrom's defence counsel said any suggestion his client had acted out of a result of financial difficulty was "denied in the strongest possible terms".
He said there was no denying the excavator contained cocaine, but told the jury they'd have to decide whether Mr Engstrom had known it was in there.
The trial continues.
