A former Colchester solicitor, whose ex-wife was battered to death by their paranoid schizophrenic son, has been arrested following Australia's largest-ever ecstasy seizure.

James Neale, 54, is alleged to have masterminded the smuggling of drugs with an estimated street value of more than £5 million - 13.5 million Australian dollars - into the country in a container shipment of French wine.

Neale, whose beauty queen ex-wife Rosemary was killed by their son Jonathon, was arrested on Friday night following a joint operation by Australian Customs and the Australian Federal Police.

Federal police spokeswoman Beryl Janz said officers identified and monitored the movement of the container to a warehouse in the Port Botany area in late November.

She said part of the shipment was unpacked and about 271,000 ecstasy tablets were seized following which Neale and an Australian were arrested.

Neale, a UK national who now lives in Hong Kong, and Australian bartender Bruce Ridgeway, 52, now living in the Phillipines, were charged with being knowingly concerned in the importation of ecstasy and attempted possession of the drug.

They were brought before Parramatta Local Court on Saturday where their solicitor Mary Spiers did not apply for bail. Registrar Donna Evans formally refused bail and both were remanded in custody to Sydney Central Local Court.

Michael Croke, who appeared for both men, did not apply for bail which was was formally refused.

Both were remanded in custody to appear for mention on February 12 next year.

Amanda Vanstone, Federal Minister for Justice and Customs, said customs officers had used sophisticated analysis methods to target a sea container from France.

They had then used the latest X-ray and ionscan particle analysis equipment to identify the drugs.

A large operation was mounted in which the tablets were replaced with fakes and the container was shadowed to a warehouse where part of it was unpacked and the two men arrested.

The operation follows within days of a joint Dutch-Australian Federal Police operation which led to substantial drug seizures and arrests in the Netherlands.

Senator Vanstone said it disrupted what was alleged to be a sophisticated drug syndicate which had planned to import amphetamines into Australia.

"These operations clearly demonstrate that the risk for trafficking drugs into Australia are increasing all the time," she said.

In February this year Jonathon Neale denied murdering his mother Rosemary, 52, of Bourne Road, Colchester, but admitted her manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The plea was accepted by the prosecution and he was ordered to be detained in a secure mental health unit.

He attacked his mother with a rock at his flat in St Peter's Street after becoming convinced she was "the Devil".

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