A Canadian national, 38, is due to reappear in court today (Wednesday, 2 October 2024), charged with allegedly concealing about 15kg of methamphetamine inside his luggage in a failed attempt to smuggle the illicit drug into Australia.
The investigation began after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers conducted an examination of the man's suitcase after his arrival at Sydney International Airport from Vancouver, Canada on Wednesday, 31 July 2024.
ABF officers located a powdery substance in several vacuum-sealed bags concealed in the man's suitcase. Further testing of the substance returned a positive result for methamphetamine.
The matter was referred to the AFP and the man was arrested.
The AFP charged the man with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, contrary to section 307.1 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth).
The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.
The man appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday, 1 August 2024, where he was refused bail to reappear in the same court today (Wednesday, 2 October 2024).
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Dom Stephenson said the AFP was committed to prosecuting criminals who attempted to bring illicit drugs into our communities.
"Criminal groups will go to any lengths to bring illicit substances into our country," Detective Acting Superintendent Stephenson said.
"The devastating impact methamphetamine has on individuals and their families is well known – that's why we're committed to stopping it whenever we can.
"This amount could have accounted for about 150,000 individual hits, had it reached Australian streets.
"The AFP will continue to work tirelessly with the ABF and other partners to ensure these dangerous substances don't reach our communities."
ABF Superintendent Elke West said ABF officers are on the lookout for the brazen tactics of travellers attempting to import illicit substances into the country.
"Criminal syndicates only think about their profit margins, not about the potential harm these dangerous drugs cause to the community," Superintendent West said.
"ABF officers will continue to act on shared agency intelligence, passenger behaviour, and officer intuition to intercept attempted drug importations and disrupt these network's supply chains."