Wheelchair stocked with cocaine: police

A 62-year-old New Zealand woman and her brother will face charges in Argentina after allegedly trying to smuggle cocaine out of the country in a wheelchair.

Beverley Morris, 62, and her 60-year-old brother, who has not been named, are behind bars in Buenos Aires after trying to board a plane to Australia. Authorities said cocaine worth up to $2.1 million was found in their luggage and a wheelchair.

The pair, who live in Melbourne, are alleged to be part of an organised international drug syndicate.

Mrs Morris was named in charges against her son, one of three men arrested in Sydney in connection with the ring.

Australian Federal Police said Mrs Morris and her brother were searched by Argentine authorities and found to have 4.11kg of cocaine.

A spokeswoman for the federal police said there were no plans to extradite the New Zealanders to face charges in Australia.

"They have been arrested by the Argentinian police and will be charged by them."

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the New Zealanders had been visited by embassy officials twice since their arrest.

They have not asked the ministry to contact any family in New Zealand.

Three men, including Mrs Morris' son Rudi Jan Waterman, 33, appeared in court in Parramatta on Saturday charged with conspiracy to import 4kg of cocaine into Australia.

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

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.

Australian Federal Police said the arrests followed an 11-month operation involving police in Peru, Uruguay, Chile, the United States and New Zealand.

It was not clear yesterday what role New Zealand played in the bust.