New Zealanders arrested in South America after cocaine found

SYDNEY - An elderly New Zealand couple were arrested in South America yesterday after authorities uncovered 4.1kg of cocaine in their luggage and inside a wheelchair they were carrying.

An Australian police prosecutor said the couple were arrested while boarding a Melbourne-bound plane in Buenos Aires and are allegedly part of an international smuggling ring.

Three men have appeared in a Sydney court over the matter, including the son of the woman arrested in South America.

Rudi Jan Waterman, 33, of Wolli Creek was today refused bail in Parramatta Bail Court on charges of conspiring with a number of people in Australia and overseas, to smuggle four kilograms of cocaine into Australia.

Prosecutor Steve McGrath told the court Waterman was one of three who conspired to import the drug into Australia through his mother, Beverley Morris.

Waterman has been charged with importing a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and possessing a trafficable quantity of a prohibited drug.

The court heard there was an extensive case against Waterman and his co-accused Lucas James Carr, 32, of Cronulla and Gurinder Singh, 39, of Hurstville.

Mr McGrath said there were telephone intercepts and other surveillance material as well as documentary evidence linking him to the conspiracy.

However, Waterman's lawyer, who did not wish to be named, argued the evidence was generic and inconclusive.

"Far from having a strong case the prosecution have from their evidence in court today a very weak case against my client," he said.

Registrar Rosemary Davidson found Waterman was a likely flight risk and refused him bail.

"I'm satisfied that there's a strong case against the accused and that in some way he has been involved in a conspiracy to import," she said.

Registrar Davidson ordered Waterman to face Central Local Court on Tuesday, August 16.

Neither Carr nor Singh applied for bail on a commercial import charge and they were remanded in custody to appear in the same court on the same day.

- AAP