The Creative Ways Criminal Gangs Are Getting Drugs Into Australia

Authorities said concealment methods are becoming more devious amid a high number of drug-related hospitalisations and incarcerations.

An Australian Federal Police officer (L) inspects seized methamphetamine in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 12, 2014. William West/Getty Images

Over 25 tonnes of drugs, about the weight of a fully laden garbage truck and worth around $8.4 billion (US$5.75 billion), was stopped at Australian borders last year.

The total is down from the record 38.5 tonnes seized in 2019-20 and considerably lower than last year’s figure of 33.7 tonnes.

Yet the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF) warned crime syndicates were finding more creative ways to conceal and smuggle illegal substances using buses and even mosaic tiles.

During the 2025 calendar year, law enforcement detected and seized the following substances:

• 9.2 tonnes of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $5.5 billion
• 7.8 tonnes of cocaine, worth around $2.5 billion
• 6.3 tonnes of 1,4-butanediol, estimated to be worth $18.9 million
• 1.3 tonnes of ketamine, which had an estimated street value of $273 million
• 260 kg of MDMA, worth around $42.6 million
• 220 kg of heroin, with an estimated street value of $110 million

These amounts of drugs translate into millions of individual uses.

For instance, a recent seizure at Port Botany, New South Wales (NSW), in December 2025 uncovered 22 individually wrapped plastic blocks containing an estimated 27 kg of cocaine. That would break down into about 135,000 street-level deals and net those involved in its importation and selling around $9 million.

Prior to that, in October 2025, about 145 kg of cocaine was located by ABF officers in refrigerated containers in NSW.

AFP Says Drug Criminals Are Motivated by ‘Greed and Profit’

AFP Commander Adam Rice said the AFP continued to work with its state, commonwealth, and international partners to share intelligence and to disrupt and dismantle organised criminal syndicates.

“Criminals are driven by their own greed and profit. The harm caused by organised crime syndicates’ involvement in the Australian illicit drug trade is significant and extends beyond individual users to a myriad of violent and exploitative crimes and harm to the community,” Rice said.

ABF Commander David Coyles said that the agency had seen an increased number of cases where criminal entities used drug mules within the international traveller domain to exploit Australia’s border.

“Transnational and serious organised crime groups are working as hard as ever to target the Australian community, using whatever means necessary to grow their profits and gain a greater foothold within this criminal trade,” he said.

How Transnational Criminals Try to Beat Our Borders

The AFP and ABF have released a number of case studies on how criminal syndicates have tried to deceive border security and smuggle illicit drugs into the country.

In May 2025, three men were charged with allegedly importing 360 kg of methamphetamine impregnated in mosaic tiles. The 360 boxes of tiles had an estimated street value of $333 million.

In August, ABF officers examined a container that arrived at Port Botany in New South Wales, declared as “vegetable spring rolls and more,” and identified more than 900 kg of amphetamine–one of the largest ever seizures in the state.

In September, a Victorian man was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment for smuggling about 100 kg of methamphetamine hidden inside leather shoes from a consignment which had arrived in Sydney from Thailand.

In July, three NSW men were charged for allegedly importing of 600 kg of methamphetamine concealed in in eight wooden crates declared as “UV protective fabrics.” The illicit drugs had an estimated street value of $555 million.

Also in July, a Sydney man was charged for allegedly travelling to a town in the Gold Coast hinterland to take delivery of 140 kg of cocaine hidden inside two marine engines.

In August, an Iranian man was charged for allegedly attempting to import 390 kg of methamphetamine into Australia concealed within crane parts. The methamphetamine had an estimated street value of more than $360 million.

Addiction and Imprisonment Data

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, at the end of June, 2025, there were 5,209 people imprisoned for illegal drug offences in Australia, representing 11 percent of the total prisoner population.

While drug offences were not a primary cause of imprisonment among men, they were among the top three most serious offences for women, with 15 percent incarcerated for this reason.

Meanwhile, data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) showed that there were around 146,000 hospitalisations due to alcohol and other drugs in 2023-24.

Of those admissions, 61,443 were drug related, with methamphetamine (10 percent) and cannabinoids (4.7 percent) the most common illicit drugs involved in hospitalisations.

“Every day, on average, 76 people are admitted to Australian hospitals from methamphetamine, cocaine, cannabinoid, GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate), MDMA and hallucinogen use,” Coyles  said.

(Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database 2023–24)

• For free and confidential advice about alcohol and other drug treatment services, call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015.
• Access free 24/7 drug and alcohol counselling online.
• For information about drug and alcohol addiction treatment or support, go to the Turning Point website.
• Australian Community Support Organisation (ACSO) provides a range of alcohol and other drug treatment programs and services available for people engaged with the criminal justice system.
• Path2Help provides resources to assist people looking for ways to support others who uses alcohol or drugs.