Australian Border Force seizes more than 700,000 masks under new export ban
Covid crooks have been caught trying to export more than 700,000 masks from Australia. Some of the most common intended destinations will surprise you.
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Covid crooks have been caught trying to export more than 700,000 masks from Australia to nations hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis.
The Saturday Telegraph can reveal the Australian Border Force (ABF) has seized nearly 1600 consignments of masks since a ban on sending essentials offshore without authorisation began on March 30.
Among the top five intended destinations for masks were the United States, United Kingdom and Italy, which have recorded the most deaths during the pandemic. The other nations in the top five destinations were Japan and, surprisingly, New Zealand.
As part of Operation Hangfire, the ABF has also confiscated more than 9000 “units” of sanitiser and alcohol wipes, 45,000 gloves and nearly 2000 gowns.
The new prohibition on “exploitative exporting” carries penalties of up to five years’ jail. However, the ABF and Australian Federal Police would not comment on whether any prosecutions were in the offing.
The federal government introduced the ban after it emerged that essential goods were being bulk purchased from retail outlets in Australia with the intent of profiteering by sending the products abroad.
In one instance, a Chinese-backed company sent 10,000 masks, 30,000 protective gowns and 68,000 disposable gloves from Sydney to Shanghai during January and February. At the time there was no law against doing that.
In April the company claimed to be amassing protective supplies to bring to Australia. But it never provided any proof.
The Chinese Embassy stepped in to defend the company, saying “the procurement … was just to help China overcome difficulties” and that Australian businesses had done much the same since.
A separate regulation also attacks price-gouging on critical items, limiting mark-ups to 20 per cent.
An AFP spokesman said it was working closely “with the ABF to detect and deter instances of profiteering and hoarding.”
Essentials bound for troubled shores, or whose price has been jacked up, can be added to Australia’s medical stockpile – if they are up to scratch.
But none have been added so far, a Health Department spokesman said, because the government “has procured large amounts of personal protective equipment from suppliers and current supply levels are sufficient that the cost-benefit of conducting the significant and necessary safety and quality tests on the seized items is unacceptably high.”
In April, Health Minister Greg Hunt announced the government would buy 100 million face masks for the stockpile, having distributed about 22 million masks during the virus crisis.
Originally published as Australian Border Force seizes more than 700,000 masks under new export ban
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