NSW police have charged a Queensland man they believe was involved in the disposal of a murdered man’s body found in a metal locker floating in a rural creek.

The 33-year-old was arrested in Brisbane in May after NSW homicide detectives travelled to the city while investigating the disappearance of a 22-year-old man they believed was selling illicit drugs in Sydney.

NSW Police say the man’s body was found by officers inside the metal container floating down Warrell Creek in Macksville, on NSW’s mid north coast, on May 12.

The 33-year-old’s extradition was granted in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.

He has been charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder, stealing a motor vehicle and improperly interfering with a corpse.

The man was refused bail and will face court in Lismore on Saturday.

Police surveillance

NSW Police set up a strike force in May as they investigated the disappearance of the 22-year-old while tracking the sale of drugs in Sydney’s southeast.

Police had been tapping his drug deals, but they suddenly fell silent on April 27.

They allege he was murdered in a Sydney unit, bundled into the cabinet bought from Bunnings and driven 500km to be dumped in a rural creek over a deal gone wrong.

Another 22-year-old man was arrested in Sydney on May 15 and later faced court on a murder charge.

He was accused of calling in his acquaintance from Brisbane “as a cleaner”.

-AAP