A Canadian national is scheduled to face Brisbane Magistrates Court today charged with allegedly importing 14.4kg of methamphetamine into Australia concealed in her luggage from her flight from Fiji.
A joint media release between the Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force says Australian Border Force officers detected the methamphetamine on 28th July, 2024 after selecting the 24 year old woman, for a baggage examination after she arrived at Brisbane International Airport on a flight from Fiji.
The woman started her journey in Vancouver, Canada.
The methamphetamine was allegedly in plastic packages wrapped inside towels that had been soaked in vinegar and layered with coffee beans.
Testing of the packages returned a presumptive positive result for methamphetamine.
The AFP charged the woman with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
This amount of methamphetamine could have been sold as almost 145,000 street deals with an estimated value of AUD$13.4 million.
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Steve Wiggins says every ‘hit’ of methamphetamine inflicts misery on the Australian community.
He says he is pleased to say in this instance the AFP and the ABF stopped a significant amount of methamphetamine from reaching Australian streets.
Across Australia, there are 10,100 methamphetamine-related hospitalisations in 2021-2022 – which equates to more than 27 every day on average.
Methamphetamine is also linked to further criminal activity such as drug dealing, property crime and violence in Australia.
The AFP is continuing its investigation into the drug importation.
We have sent questions to the Police, Fiji Revenue and Customs Service and Minister for Defence, Pio Tikoduadua on how 14.4 kilograms of methamphetamine went on a flight from Fiji to Brisbane, what is being done about this and what will be done to ensure that this is not repeated.
