Drug Smuggling Charge Dropped Against 92-Year-Old Sydney Man

This photo released Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015 by the Australian Federal Police shows bars of soap filled with cocaine seized from a a 91-year-old retired surgeon as he returned home from India. Retired oral surgeon Victor Twartz, of Sydney, faces a potential life prison sentence if he is convicted of importing 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) of the drug into Sydney Airport on a July 8 flight from New Delhi. A search of Twartz's luggage found 27 packages of soap that tested positive for cocaine, police said. Australian Federal Police via AP

SYDNEY—Prosecutors dropped a charge against a 92-year-old retired surgeon on Friday that alleged he had smuggled 1 million Australian dollars ($700,000) worth of cocaine hidden in bars of soap into Sydney airport.

Victor Twartz was due to appear in the New South Wales District Court in Sydney on a charge of importing a commercial quantity of cocaine, which carries a potential life sentence.

But the Sydney resident did not appear and prosecutors told the judge that the charge had been dropped. No explanation was given.

Bars of soap filled with cocaine seized from a a then-91-year-old retired surgeon as he returned home from India in 2015. Australian Federal Police via AP