AFP says arrests are rising as more drug mules target airports

Picture: AFP

There has been a noticeable rise in drug mules trying to smuggle drugs through Australian airports, authorities say.

The warning was made after Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF) officials.

It comes after four people appeared in court over three separate cases, charged with smuggling 103kg of methamphetamine and cocaine worth $80m through Melbourne and Sydney airports in 24 hours.

AFP Superintendent Morgen Blunden says the arrests are part of a noticeable trend of more drug mules targeting Australian airports in recent months.

“The AFP and its law enforcement partners are closely tracking the rise in drug mules attempting to smuggle illicit drugs into Australia …,” he says.

The three attempts involved 77kg of methamphetamine and 26kg of cocaine.

“If 77kg of methamphetamine and 26kg of cocaine had reached our streets, it had the potential to facilitate more than 900,000 individual street deals,” Supt Blunden says.

“These arrests should send a strong warning to drug couriers attempting to smuggle illicit drugs into Australia – no matter how you try to move your drugs, the AFP, together with our colleagues at ABF, will be waiting for you.”

ABF Acting Commander Travel Graeme Campbell said his officers were stopping and detecting passengers at airports almost daily.

“Some travellers are seemingly unaware of the life-altering risks of attempting to smuggle large quantities of border-controlled drugs into our country – one decision can change the course of your life in an instant,” he says.

“This is an immense amount of illicit drugs which our officers have stopped from filtering through to the streets, hundreds of thousands of lives not put at risk due to these dangerous substances.

“Let this be a warning to criminal syndicates looking to exploit travellers entering Australia – ABF officers and our partner agencies are watching you, and we will do whatever we can to disrupt the supply chain.”

25kg of what the AFP believes to be methamphetamine found at Sydney Airport. Picture: AFP

ARRESTS

Two UK women, aged 20 and 33, were arrested after ABF officers say they found 26kg of cocaine in a suitcase after they arrived at Melbourne Airport from Mexico yesterday (Tuesday, October 29).

The ABF says officers found 12 blocks of a white substance wrapped in carbon paper inside one of the passenger’s suitcases and that tests returned a positive result for cocaine.

The 33-year-old woman was charged with importing and possessing illegal drugs under the Criminal Code Act; she appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, October 29, and was due to reappear yesterday (Wednesday, October 30).

In a second separate case, the AFP says officers arrested an NSW woman, 21, and a NZ woman, 23, at Sydney Airport on Monday (October, 28) after they were allegedly caught with 52kg of methamphetamine after getting off a flight from Singapore.

AFP officers charged both women with importing illegal drugs; they appeared in Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, October 29, and are expected back in court on January 15, 2025.

In a third separate incident, a UK-Northern Ireland dual national, 38, was charged with trying to smuggle about 25kg of methamphetamine from Thailand.

AFP officers arrested and charged the man with importing illegal drugs under Criminal Code Act. He faced Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, (October 29) and is expected to appear in court again on January 8, 2025.