Luxury $250,000 yacht 'packed with hundreds of kilograms of meth' is towed into Sydney Harbour by police - as crew are tested for coronavirus

• The $250,000 boat was intercepted by NSW Police in waters off Lake Macquarie
• Hazardous materials crews stormed the deck wearing protective equipment
• A New Zealand man and a UK-South African man will appear in court on Sunday 
• The crew will be tested for COVID-19 and the boat will be decontaminated

A luxury yacht suspected to be carrying hundreds of kilograms of meth has been raided by police.

The $250,000 vessel was intercepted by New South Wales Police in waters off Lake Macquarie, north of Sydney, at 4.30am on Saturday.

The 50-foot boat called La Fayette was escorted by a police vessel to Balmain in the city's inner west at 1.45pm that afternoon.

A New Zealand man, 33, and a UK-South African man, 34, have been arrested and charged with importing commercial quantities of border-controlled drugs.

The maximum sentence is life in jail. 

Pictured: The $250,000 vessel being towed by a ship after it was stormed by police in Lake Macquarie

It was brought to Balmain in the city's west on Saturday morning for a full investigation

The luxury yacht was packed with hundreds of kilograms of suspected methamphetamine

Commercial quantities of suspected drugs will be unloaded as part of an investigation, Australian Federal Police said on Sunday.

Forensic teams and a hazardous materials crews with full protective equipment searched the deck. 

NSW State Crime Commander, Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith, said the crew members are being tested for COVID-19 and vessel has been decontaminated.

'With every seizure we make, a syndicate is taken down and it's evident this criminal network has gone to extreme measures to traffic drugs into NSW with current international travel restrictions,' he said.

Australian borders closed to non-residents on March 20 to curb the spread of the deadly virus. 

The seizure came after an investigation including members of the Australian Federal Police, NSW Police, Border Force and authorities in the United Kingdom and New Caledonia.

Forensic teams and a hazardous materials crews with full protective equipment are pictured waiting by the water

New Caledonian authorities flagged a suspicious vessel with Australian officials on Thursday that had been in Mexico before entering Pacific waters. 

Australian authorities then flagged a second boat - the La Fayette - that had allegedly been loaded with drugs near Norfolk Island in the South Pacific. 

Australian Border Force's Marine Border Command tracked the boat on Friday and prepared the raid. 

The crew will be tested for COVID-19 and the boat will be decontaminated. Investigators wore protective suits during the raid

It comes after musician Craig Lembke was jailed for six years on Friday after smuggling 700kg of cocaine from Tahiti to NSW in a catamaran - also moored at Lake Macquarie.

Lembke denied knowing the drugs were on board, but the court heard he was offered $500,000 to do the trip.

He was found guilty in October of importing a commercial quantity of cocaine, hidden in the twin hulls of the 13-metre catamaran Skarabej in late 2017.  

The quantity of pure cocaine in the 700kg of white powder seized by police was 548kg, with a street value of $245 million.