Wellington - A man alleged to be the head of an international drug trafficking syndicate asked an Australian court Monday for anonymity, saying he feared for his life, news reports said.

The 41-year-old man was arrested at Amsterdam Airport in December 2007 after three years on the run and recently extradited to Australia from the Netherlands, ABC radio reported.

He appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court charged with conspiring to import cocaine using a large network of couriers who Australian police said concealed the drug internally.

Police alleged the man headed a drug trafficking syndicate that operated in Australia, the Netherlands and Canada.

Assistant Commissioner Tim Morris, of the Australian Federal Police, was quoted by the AAP national news agency as saying international law-enforcement partners in Canada, Thailand and the Netherlands had helped disrupt the global syndicate which operated in three continents.

"The syndicate targets people who are vulnerable, either financially or because of their own drug dependency, to participate in the extremely risky and dangerous method of swallowing drug parcels for concealment from authorities," he said in a statement.

Ian Gray, chief magistrate of the state of Victoria, granted a temporary suppression order of the man's name until he appears in court again on January 8. (dpa)