Two men caught red-handed unpacking millions of dollars worth of heroin smuggled in to Australia in two decorative wooden altars have been found guilty of possession.
Lam Hoang Tran and Duy Hoa Pham had denied attempting to possess commercial amounts of imported drugs but were convicted by a jury at Brisbane's Supreme Court on Friday.
During the seven day trial, the court heard how the 33.5 kilograms of pure heroin was smuggled from Ho Chi Minh City into the Port of Brisbane before police launched a secret operation to uncover its destination.
The drugs were discovered within the elaborate altars - which were laced with mother of pearl - when they were screened by customs officials.
The court heard an innocuous white powder was then packaged up to look like the 78 drug packs when the altars were reassembled - this time implanted with listening and tracking devices.
The devices helped lead Australian Federal Police to a shed in Munruben, south of Brisbane, on November 10, 2012.
There they found the two dust-covered men standing among the broken pieces of the smashed-up wooden structures and the extracted packages.
The duo were "effectively caught red-handed" trying to extract what they thought was a lucrative drug haul, crown prosecutor Tim Ryan said.
Tran and Pham are due to be sentenced at a later date.
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