The case of two overseas nationals who allegedly came to New Zealand in a bid to retrieve 91kg of cocaine looks set to go to the High Court.
Carlos Davide Ferreira-Sampaio (46), of Portugal, and Matthew Luke Hodder (31), of Melbourne, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this afternoon after each denying a charge of attempting to take possession of the class-A drug for the purpose of supply.
Because of the intricacy and scale of the allegations, Judge David Robinson said paperwork would be completed to move the case up the jurisdictional ladder.
The High Court would determine whether the case would be transferred there, he said.
Police at the time said the defendants were arrested attempting to take drugs off a ship docked at Port Chalmers on September 17 last year.
But the massive cocaine haul had already been seized by US police in August.
A statement from police at the time of arrest attributed the attempted importation to an "international crime syndicate".
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith said there would be inevitable delays in providing evidential disclosure to defence counsel.
“There’s a level of complexity because of the involvement of overseas authorities,” he said.
The charge faced by Ferreira-Sampaio and Hodder carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.
They will appear in court again in March.
