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An American woman faces up to 25 years in prison after she was allegedly caught carrying $12 million worth of illicit drugs.
The 27-year-old woman, who was on a flight from San Francisco, was arrested by Australian Border Force officers at Sydney Airport on Monday.
While processing the woman, officers were alerted to a suspicious substance after an X-ray of her luggage appeared speckled with blue spots.
Officers searched the woman’s purse and opened the lining of several jackets, where they found small packages hidden inside the seams.
Tests confirmed that the packages contained methamphetamine.
Australian Border Force officers searched an American woman’s luggage after an X-ray of her bag appeared speckled with blue spots (pictured).
The Australian Federal Police reportedly seized 13kg of drugs from the clothing, equivalent to approximately 130,000 individual street transactions, with a total value of more than $12 million.
AFP Detective Superintendent Dom Stephenson said the arrest should serve as a warning to other drug dealers.
“The AFP and ABF work closely to ensure illicit drugs do not enter the Australian community,” Detective Stephenson said.
“(We) will not tolerate criminal syndicates attempting to exploit our airports to import harmful and illicit substances.”
ABF Superintendent Mal Nimmo praised officers for investigating the alleged “anomaly” that appeared on the x-ray.
“Criminal syndicates will use every means they can think of to try to introduce these dangerous substances into our country,” Superintendent Nimmo said.
‘In this case, our highly qualified ABF officers saw an anomaly beneath the seams – they are ready for anything – stopping illicit drugs from crossing the Australian border.
“Methamphetamine is an extremely destructive drug, we are doing everything we can… to reduce the harm Australians face.”
Officers searched the woman’s purse and opened the lining of several jackets (pictured), where they found small packages hidden inside the seams.
Tests confirmed the packages contained methamphetamine (pictured)
ABF Superintendent Mal Nimmo greeted officers who had noticed the alleged “anomaly under the seams” of the jackets.
The woman was arrested and charged with one count of importation of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.
The woman was arrested and will face Downing Center Local Court on May 1.