A Canadian woman was arrested at an airport in Australia after $12 million worth of meth was found in her luggage — despite elaborate effort to thwart detection: it was encased in plastic and wrapped in towels soaked in vinegar and layered with coffee beans, Australian officials said. The discovery in a suitcase from Vancouver is more evidence of Canada being a significant source country for the flood of drugs targeting Australia, where street drugs command higher retail prices. The 24-year-old Canadian, who was not named by Australian authorities, arrived at Brisbane International Airport on a flight from Fiji after starting her journey in Vancouver, authorities said.
When she arrived in Brisbane on July 28, she was sent for a baggage examination. Scans of a suitcase revealed anomalies inside. Several packages found inside were encased in heavy plastic wrap that had been further wrapped in towels that had been soaked in vinegar and layered with coffee beans, according to the Australian Border Force (ABF).
The odd packaging was likely designed to mask the scent of the illicit cargo from drug-sniffing dogs trained to find banned narcotics. A field test of the contents returned a presumptive positive result for methamphetamine and weighed 14.4 kilograms, officials said.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) then charged the woman with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Police said the suitcase contained enough meth for almost 145,000 street deals, giving it an estimated retail value of A$13.4 million, which is about C$12 million.
“I’m pleased to say in this instance the AFP and the ABF stopped a significant amount of methamphetamine from reaching our streets,” said AFP acting Det.-Supt. Steve Wiggins in a statement.
“The AFP and its Australian and international partners are relentless in pursuing those who try to bring illegal drugs into this country.” ABF Supt. John Ikin said Australia is facing waves of imported drugs, particularly methamphetamine, also known as ice.
“This result should serve as a warning to criminals that no matter where you are attempting to import or move your drugs, the ABF and our partners will be waiting,” Ikin said. Canadians and Canada often featured in large seizures of illegal drugs in Australia and as alleged kingpins in smuggling schemes. The largest seizures — loads by the tonne — come by sea from the Port of Vancouver sent by organized crime groups, as shown earlier this year in an investigation by Postmedia .
Much of that is shipped from Mexico to Canada before setting sail to Australia and New Zealand hidden in regular commercial cargo. Shipments arriving from Canada traditionally raises fewer red flags than cargo arriving straight from Mexico or South America. The added cost and effort can be worth it: meth sells for orders of magnitude more in Australia than in Canada as demand is intense and the hurdles of importing to the island nation are high.
The biggest Canadian connection is the allegations against Tse Chi Lop, a Canadian accused of running a vast meth empire worth billions of dollars. He is accused of being one of world’s biggest drug kingpins and dubbed “Asia’s El Chapo,” referring to the founder of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel. The former Toronto man is facing trial in Australia.
Drugs, however, arrive in Australia in many ways, including being mailed and hidden in the luggage of Canadian travellers arriving by air and sea. In November, a Canadian man was sentenced in Australia to 18 and a half years in prison for trying to smuggle $15 million worth of meth, one of several Canadians arrested Down Under. Last summer, nearly $50 million worth of meth was found inside a hidden compartment in a cheap wood cabinet sent from Canada to Sydney.
In May, a Canadian was sentenced to 11 years in prison in Australia after large quantities of meth were found in commercial dough mixers being shipped from Toronto to both Melbourne and Sydney. The previous year, Australian authorities announced the country’s largest known fentanyl shipment arrived from Canada hidden in an industrial lathe shipped from Vancouver. Large loads of cocaine and meth, worth an estimated $135 million, were also found hidden inside a vintage Bentley luxury sedan sent in a shipping container from Canada to Sydney.
In 2017, a National Post investigation revealed that a Vice Media editor recruited interns, models and musicians into an international cocaine smuggling ring. Five of his recruits were caught at Sydney airport with almost 40 kilos of cocaine and sentenced to prison in Australia. • Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.
com | X: AD_Humphreys Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
.
