Sydney man charged over heroin import
Editor’s note: Images of the drugs and vision of the arrest is available via Hightail
A Sydney man arrested and charged after he allegedly tried to collect three kilograms of heroin imported from Thailand is due to face Downing Centre Local Court today (9 March, 2023).
An AFP investigation began last month (February) after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers at the Sydney Gateway Facility examined an international mail package sent from Thailand and noticed anomalies.
They opened the package labelled as ‘cloth’ and found 3kg of heroin hidden among silk table runners.
The matter was referred to the AFP and the drugs were replaced with a harmless substance before the package was delivered to a Sydney residence.
AFP investigators arrested the Sydney man, 31, when he arrived at the property and allegedly collected the package.
Police will allege the property was not the man’s home but was the address of a person known to him and the package was sent there in a bid to avoid law enforcement detection.
After AFP officers arrested the man, they executed a search warrant on his Bonnyrigg home where they seized luxury items valued at more than $10,000.
The source of the luxury items, which included three designer handbags from Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci, will be investigated as suspected proceeds of crime.
The man was charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of heroin, contrary to section 307.5(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.
AFP Sergeant Alex Drummond said investigations were ongoing into everyone involved in the importation and further arrests had not been ruled out.
“Illicit drug use causes a significant burden to the Australian economy, the estimated total social costs for every kilogram of opioids is more than $1.3 million, through crime, loss of productivity, emergency treatment and increased healthcare costs,” Sgt Drummond said.
“By intercepting these drugs, the AFP and ABF have prevented about $3.9 million harm to the Australian community.”
“The National Illicit Drug Indicators Report found in 2020, 360 people died from heroin overdoses, while another 101 people died after using heroin and other opioids.
“The AFP and our partners are working tirelessly to protect the Australian community by disrupting all levels of the illicit drug trade.”
ABF Superintendent Tina Tizzone said the charge against the man was a great result and a testament to the dedication and hard work of the officers of the ABF.
“The excellent work of our officers has helped prevent these deadly drugs from reaching our streets,” Supt Tizzone said.
“Criminals will try to hide illicit substances in a variety of creative ways, however our officers have many detection methods at their disposal with officer intuition and use of innovative technologies often the driving forces behind these kind of discoveries.
“The ABF’s work alongside our valued partners, both here in Australia and overseas, is the community’s first and most important line of defence against dangerous substances.”
This amount of heroin had an estimated wholesale value of between $540,000 and $960,000 and a street value of more than $1.27 million.
Anyone with information about suspicious border activity or border-related crime the community can report it anytime through Border Watch at borderwatch.gov.au. Information can be provided anonymously.
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