A Tanzanian cargo ship crewmember appeared in the Port Adelaide Magistrate’s Court on November 10 charged with the alleged importation of 3kg of methamphetamine into Australia.
The man was remanded in custody to reappear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on December 9.
An investigation started after a random baggage inspection on Nov. 8 as the 50-years-old crewmember from an unnamed cargo ship was heading out for shore leave.
The Australian police claims that during the routine bag check, three suspicious packages containing a crystal-like substance were found in the backpack the man was carrying.
Australian Border Force officers were notified and attended the screening point. Testing of the contents of the packages allegedly returned a positive result of methamphetamine and officers alerted the Australian police.
Police investigators seized the packages and arrested the Tanzanian national, later charging him with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, namely methamphetamine. The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.
The man was transported to Port Adelaide Police Station where he was refused police bail to appear in court on November 10.
Following the man’s arrest, Australian Border Force officers searched the vessel, with no additional suspicious items located.
Melinda Adam, Australian Federal Police detective superintendent, said this amount of methamphetamine could have been sold as about 30,000 individual ‘street deals’ and put an estimated $2.7m into the pockets of criminals.
“The damage caused by methamphetamine is felt across the community, in the pressure on our healthcare system, the road toll and the risk to public safety,” Adam said.
“The vigilance of Port security staff helped protect the community and the AFP works closely with a range of partners to prevent our international gateways being part of the criminal supply chain.
“Law enforcement are alert to attempts by people to use their access to facilitate criminal activities and anyone considering smuggling drugs into Australia needs to think about the consequences of their actions. If caught, you face spending multiple years of your life in a prison cell.”
Jody Griswood, Australian Border Force superintendent, said the actions of the security guard demonstrated the close working partnership between the ABF and port authorities, both having the shared intent of protecting our maritime supply chain from criminal infiltration.
“Protecting our maritime border from being exploited relies on these important partnerships, together we are making it as hostile as possible for criminals to flood our shores with these harmful drugs,” Griswood added.
