Heroin lands traveller arriving from Cambodia a date with court
A 52-year-old Vietnamese-born Australian citizen is due to appear in Melbourne Magistrate’s Court today charged with attempting to import approximately four kilograms of heroin.
An Australian Border Force (ABF) officer at Melbourne Airport targeted the woman for a baggage examination when she arrived on a flight from Cambodia.
During the examination, an x-ray identified suspicious substances concealed within hammocks carried by the passenger. Testing of the substances indicated the presence of heroin. The matter was then referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the woman was subsequently arrested.
ABF Acting Regional Commander Victoria/Tasmania, Glenn Scutts, praised the efforts of the officers at the airport, highlighting their ability to identify high-risk travellers and baggage.
“Our officers are highly-skilled in identifying those who attempt to bring drugs across the border. The combination of our officers’ training and experience resulted in this passenger being caught, and a large amount of a serious drug being kept off the street.” Regional Commander Scutts said.
Commander Paul Osborne, AFP Manager Crime Operations said this seizure was another win for law enforcement.
“No importation is too large or too small to escape the attention of Australia law enforcement. This seizure demonstrates our ongoing commitment to targeting drug importation.” Commander Osborne said.
The woman has been charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug contrary to section 307.2(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.
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