A 64-year-old, American man was caught allegedly trying to bring four kilograms of cocaine into Perth Airport on Monday.
He was selected by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers to be examined after he arrived from Bangkok, Thailand.
The officers examined his suitcase with an X-Ray and found an anomaly in the base. Upon further investigation, two packages of white powder were found underneath the lining of the suitcase.
The man was arrested by the Austalian Federal Police (AFP) after testing of the powder returned a “presumptive positive indication for cocaine.” They will do further investigation to determine the weight and purity of the substance.
The 64-year-old appeared at the Perth’s Magistrate’s court on Tuesday and was charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug. He will be in custody until his court appearance on July 27, 2018. The man’s identity has not been released.
ABF Acting Regional Commander for WA, Mark Wilson, said that the detection shows ABF officers’ high level skills and the effectiveness of their cutting edge technology, the AFP press release stated.
In a similar incident last year, South African flight attendant, Priya Govender arrived from Johannesburg attempting to import around 6 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside books.
The 32-year old was also charged with importing border-controlled drugs of a commercial quantity.
Under section 307.1 of The Criminal Code Act (1995) (Commonwealth), a person who imports or exports a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug may face imprisonment for life or 7,500 penalty units, or both.
AFP State Manager for WA, Commander Greg Harrigan, said that following the recent arrest, they will be considering “all avenues of the supply chain offshore and the potential market for this attempted drug importation at Perth’s borders.”
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