ABF boss reveals how cartels smuggle drugs into Australia

Organised crime syndicates are flying drugs into the Top End on remote air strips and only a handful of them are getting caught, the outgoing boss of the Australian Border Force says.

Organised crime syndicates are using so-called “black flights” to smuggle drugs and weapons into Australia with only a handful caught because of a lack of resources and outdated technology, the former boss of the Australian Border Force says.

“Black flights, where aircraft come into the country undetected by radar, are a very real thing,’’ said Michael Outram, who retired as ABF Commissioner yesterday after seven years at the helm.

In many cases, light planes have their interiors stripped to accommodate extra fuel tanks and their illicit cargo, and then island hop from South America into the Pacific, before arriving in Australia.

Outgoing Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Look at where in the world a light aircraft can get into the Top End of Australia undetected – it is virtually the entire arc of the archipelago all across the way to the Solomons,’’ ‘Mr Outram said.

In March last year five NSW men were charged after allegedly organising a black flight from Australia to Papua New Guinea to pick up 52kg of methamphetamine. On the plane’s return flight the crew allegedly turned off the plane’s transponder and flew at a low altitude to avoid detection, before landing in Queensland.

“Increasingly, I think this is going to be a big threat we have to keep an eye on,” Mr Outram said. “We are going to have to rethink how we deal with not just what’s on the water in terms of smuggling, but what’s flying above the water and make sure we know every aircraft coming into Australia, know what type of plane it is, where it’s from, what it’s carrying and that it is compliant with all our laws.”