Photo credit: AFP
A 34-year-old NSW man is facing Parramatta Local Court today following a joint investigation between the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity into multiple importations of illicit drugs through air cargo consignments.
The investigation began in early 2020 when three separate consignments were seized by law enforcement. The consignments were found to contain approximately four, nine and 14 kilograms of cocaine, respectively.
Police allege the man was part of a syndicate responsible for importing the drugs. The man apparently told other syndicate members he had access to an Australian Border Force (ABF) member, who could provide information on the status of the consignments.
Officers further allege that the man has been accessing publicly available parcel-tracking websites to determine the status of the consignments and reporting the findings to the other syndicate members.
According to a statement released by the Federal Police, the accused man used a phone subscribed in a false name to track 62 consignments, six of which were found to contain border-controlled drugs. The six consignments had a total of 14 kilograms of cocaine, 8.2 kilograms of heroin and 48.6 kilograms of methamphetamine.
A search warrant was executed on the man’s residence yesterday (Friday) and police seized three encrypted communication devices.
He was charged with four counts of importing commercial quantities of border-controlled drugs and faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Superintendent Matthew Parsons of the AFP said there is a high demand for illicit drugs in NSW, particularly cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
“Shipments of this size are not a surprise to law enforcement, given the changes organised crime syndicates have made in response to the current environment – steering towards sending smaller packages through air cargo and mail streams in attempts to avoid detection,” Parsons explained.
The Integrity Commissioner and head of the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, Jaala Hinchcliffe, said allegations of access to a corrupt law enforcement member to assist criminal entities with the importation of illicit drugs is a very serious matter.
“Information obtained by law enforcement members can be extremely valuable to criminal entities and corrupt conduct by law enforcement members will not be tolerated,” Hinchcliffe warned.