LONDON: A UK man was due to face a Perth court today after allegedly attempting to smuggle more than 100 pellets of methamphetamine into Australia inside his body. The 45-year-old was stopped by Australian Border Force officers at Perth International Airport on Saturday after arriving on a flight from Thailand.
The officers suspected the man may be concealing drugs within his body and referred him to the Australian Federal Police, who took him to hospital. The AFP said he later passed 106 identically-shaped pellets, believed to contain methamphetamine with a combined weight of around 500 grams.
They then charged him with importing a marketable quantity of a border controlled drug. Rod O’Donnell, Western Australia’s ABF Regional Commander said people who conceal drugs internally were risking their lives, as well as their liberty.
“If you conceal drugs internally you’re playing Russian Roulette with your life,” Commander O’Donnell said. “ABF officers are alert to the range of ways people try to smuggle drugs into the country, including internally, and are dedicated to detecting those who try to evade detection at the border.”
AFP crime operations manager Paul Osborne said Australia’s law enforcement and border protection agencies would continue to combat the movement of illicit drugs into Australia.
“We will continue working together with our domestic and international partners to further investigate and disrupt illicit drug importations,” Commander Osborne said. “This seizure sends a strong message to anyone who thinks they can bring illegal substances into Australia – you will be caught and you will face the full force of the law.”
