Five Sydney men – including 2 Qantas baggage handlers – have been arrested and charged after about 100kg of cocaine arrived on a flight from South Africa on Saturday. The baggage handlers are accused of using their access to move 5 bags of cocaine worth about $40 million from the plane’s cargo hold to a car driven by an accomplice who was later stopped by police. The bust was 12 months in the making, with Federal Police Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy saying they’d been investigating an international organised crime ring since airline staff in Johannesburg noticed suspicious activity on a passenger plane in October 2022. “There’s still ongoing investigations into the South African end,” Cressy says. The 5 men will remain in custody until they appear in court next month.