About 56 kilograms of cannabis was found hidden in a silver Toyota which Boggabilla police stopped for a random breath test in the early hours of Saturday morning, just a week after half a million dollars worth of the drug was seized from the same stretch of road.

“Within a week we have cleared 80-odd kilograms of cannabis with an estimated street value of in excess of $1.5 million,” Barwon Inspector Robert Dunn told The Leader.

“This is a warning police will stop and search a vehicle, anytime of day or night.”

Chung Au and Chee Choon Chow are facing commercial drug supply charges following Saturday morning’s seizure and made no application for bail in out-of-sessions hearing in Moree Local Court yesterday morning.

The charges were triggered after officers were patrolling the Newell Highway at Boggabilla about 2am, when they signalled for the Toyota to pull over to the side of the road.

Following an RBT, police questioned Au and Chow and had cause to search the vehicle. Inside, they uncovered the cannabis haul, which police believe has an estimated street value of more than $1 million.

A small amount of cash was also recovered and the vehicle was towed from the scene to a police holding yard.

The men, aged 30 and 37, were arrested on the spot and transported to Moree Police Station, where they were questioned by investigators.

The pair are charged with supplying a commercial quantity of an illegal drug, dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime and possessing a prohibited drug, while the 37-year-old is also facing one extra count of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Both men were refused bail and will reappear in court again today.

The large drug haul is the second of its kind on the Newell Highway at Boggabilla in just a week, after 24kg of cannabis was discovered in a car on November 20.

Police are adamant they will continue to target known drug corridors like the Newell Highway.

“Barwon police have a zero tolerance to illegal activities and drugs,” Inspector Dunn said.

“It’s a great example of the strategies police use when intercepting vehicles traversing the state’s main arterial roads to convey prohibited drugs.”

James Stones and Matthew Newell were granted conditional bail in Moree Local Court last week charged in connection to the first cannabis bust.

They are yet to enter pleas to charges of supplying a commercial quantity of cannabis after their vehicle was intercepted.

Magistrate Michael O’Brien ordered the pair to post $10,000 each in surety to secure their release with Newell bailed to live under a curfew in South Australia, while Stones is residing in Queensland. The pair must report to police every day, and are prohibited from contacting one another, applying for a passport or entering a departure point out of the country while their cases remain before the courts.