Troubled former NRL player Jamil Hopoate was a person of "reasonable significance" in an plot to import more than half a tonne of cocaine, police say.
Hopoate, 26, is accused of being part of a trio now charged over the massive haul of cocaine from the UK.
Hopoate, the son of former Manly winger John Hopoate and brother of Canterbury star Will, was a talented junior but was sacked by Parramatta and Manly for off-field issues.
He played for Brisbane during their sub-par 2020 NRL campaign.
Police say Australian Border Force officers found 514kg of cocaine hidden in a consignment of toolboxes which arrived in Sydney on Saturday. The drugs had an estimated street value of almost $155 million.
When detectives stopped a van at Botany on Tuesday, the woman driver reversed at speed before Hopoate, the passenger, allegedly ran off and threw a backpack into a nearby yard.
Police gave chase on foot and arrested him a short distance away.
The 33-year-old northern beaches woman was also arrested before officers retrieved the backpack.
The woman was charged with commercial drug supply and using an offensive weapon in company to prevent detention.
Hopoate, from Dee Why, was taken to hospital for treatment to a minor leg injury before being charged with supplying a large commercial quantity of cocaine.
The pair - who were allegedly picking up the consignment - was refused bail to appear at Central Local Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett said police weren't aware of Hopoate's identity when making the arrest.
"The investigation was intelligence-driven, we didn't know the identity of the people who came to pick the consignment up until it happened," Det Supt Bennett told reporters.
"His role seemed to be as a person who was picking up a consignment.
"I'd say he was a person of reasonable significance."
Detectives later arrested a 28-year-old Minto man and charged him with supplying a large commercial quantity of cocaine.
Police will allege in court that the man collected the consignment from Matraville and delivered it to Pagewood, before leaving the area.
He was also refused bail to appear at Campbelltown Local Court on Wednesday.
Det Supt Bennett said all three accused were known to police.
Australian Associated Press
