MEXICO CITY: A 23-year-old man has allegedly smuggled eight kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in vases on a cargo flight to Melbourne from Mexico.
The man, from Reservoir, was arrested after customs officers examined a pallet of clay vases that arrived on a flight from Mexico at the end of March.
Inside the vases, officers found several packages containing three kilograms of ice.
A second consignment, marked “anthracite coal”, arrived in Melbourne on another cargo flight from Mexico on April 21.
Hidden in the consignment customs officers found 33 foil packages containing five kilograms of ice.
Police delivered the consignment to a Reservoir address, in Melbourne’s north, where the 23-year-old man was arrested.
He is charged with two counts of importing a commercial quantity of methamphetamine and two counts of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, and faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if found guilty.
He faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Customs and Border Protection commander Don Smith said the man’s arrest demonstrated that officers were alert to “even the most sophisticated attempts” to smuggle illicit drugs into Australia.
“Each and every day our officers are making detections of illicit substances at the border. If you don’t want a knock on the door from our police partners, don’t attempt to bring these dangerous and illegal imports into the Australian community,” Mr Smith said.
