A New South Wales man has faced court after allegedly attempting to import 200 kilograms of cocaine into Australia.

Police say they found a “significant” illegal haul, valued at about $80 million, on board a boat the Tweed Heads man, 41, was sailing near the Queensland–NSW border last week.

He faced the NSW Bail Division Court on Friday charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Australian Federal Police allege the man was a member of a syndicate linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs.

“[The syndicate] was planning to import cocaine into Australia by retrieving caches of the drug at sea and bringing them ashore,” Detective Inspector Steven Wiggins said.

The man was refused bail and remanded to appear in the same court on June 12.

Police say cocaine found in black duffel bags

Federal police said the catamaran was intercepted by a joint Gold Coast organised crime taskforce on Thursday as it sailed into the Tweed River, just south of the Queensland border.

It is alleged the man, who police said was the sole person on board, set off from the river two about days earlier, travelling north before switching off the boat’s transponder.

The accused then allegedly travelled about 100 nautical miles (about 185 kilometres) off the coast, collecting the drugs from another vessel before sailing back and turning the boat’s transponder back on.

Local water police intercepted the vessel in the Tweed River and towed it to a “secure location”, where it was searched and examined by specialist forensic officers.

Police said about 200kg of cocaine was hidden inside black duffel bags on board the catamaran, along with $100,000 in cash.

Further arrests ‘not ruled out’

Detective Inspector Wiggins said police were continuing to investigate who may have met the accused at sea to hand over the drugs.

Police said further arrests had “not been ruled out”.

“We do have an idea on who was involved with the larger network. At this point we can’t comment due to it being an ongoing investigation,” he said.

Australian Border Force Superintendent Jim Lee said the arrest of the Tweed Heads man followed a “highly coordinated, intelligence-driven operation”.

“This amount of cocaine would have caused significant harm. More addiction, more crime, more broken families and more violence in our communities,” he said.

“Our message to organised crime is clear: We are watching, we are working together, and we will stop anyone who tries to bring illicit drugs into Australia.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact police.