Australia's 'Most Wanted Man' Is Finally Captured After Two Week Manhunt

Alleged drug lord Mostafa Baluch has been arrested after being on the run for two weeks.

Dubbed 'Australia's most wanted man', the 33-year-old was allegedly found inside the boot of a Mercedes that was stored in a shipping container.

The container was on a truck trying to cross the New South Wales-Queensland border and authorities pulled it over for inspection at around 1am this morning (November 10).

NSW Police have published a photo of Baluch sitting on the side of the road with the shipping container door open to expose the grey vehicle where he was hiding.

NSW Police

Detective Superintendent Rob Crichlow told 2GB Radio: "Police banged on the side of the truck and someone banged back. He was sitting inside a Mercedes Benz inside a container on the back of a truck.

"We'll bring him back by air this afternoon."

Baluch was recently granted bail under strict conditions after being charged with allegedly being involved in a 900kg shipment of cocaine into the country.

The huge amount of cocaine from Ecuador had an estimated street value of $270 million.

He was last seen on October 25 on Sydney's northern beaches before police say he removed his electronic monitoring bracelet and disappeared.

Police say they have evidence that points to Baluch having a 'senior role' in a much large criminal network.

NSW Police

Detective Superintendent Rob Crichlow said last week: "What we are finding as we chase this man to bring him back to justice is we are identifying a whole range of offences and a wider criminal group.

"The longer he is out the more pressure he is placing upon those he cares about including his family, his friends and his associates."

They were particularly worried about him being on the run and what that could mean for the community.

As they were searching for Baluch, they raided two Sydney homes in Potts Hill and Yagoona, where they allegedly found $250,000 in cash, about 200g of cocaine, 485g of an unknown substance, mobile phones and an electronic money counter.

Detective Superintendent Rob Critchlow said they were working off public tip-offs and reckon those two properties were being used as 'safe houses'.

"We believe that these houses are linked to the person we're searching for and his associates," he said.

"While we're chasing this man to bring him back to justice, we're identifying a whole lot of criminal offences in a wider criminal group."

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie