A Taiwanese man will face a Sydney court after allegedly trying to smuggle a quantity of the illegal drug ice into Australia, police say.

The 30-year-old man was charged on Monday after arriving at Sydney's international airport on a flight from Hong Kong.

The 500 grams of methamphetamine, more commonly known as ice, was allegedly concealed inside the cardboard packaging of new business shirts, the Australian Federal Police said.

"During an examination of the man's baggage, officers found a number of new business shirts wrapped in packaging with the tags still attached, which felt unusually heavy," Australian Customs said in a statement.

"Further examination of the packaging of the shirts revealed a quantity of white crystal substance concealed within the shirts."

The white powdered substance weighed a total of about 500 grams, police said.

The man has been charged with importing a marketable quantity of a border controlled drug.

 

AAP