Lions, bears and weapons: Weird and wonderful items seized by Australian Border Force

From stuffed lions to boots made from cobras, credit card guns and a Freddy Krueger glove. Check out the weird, not so wonderful, and illegal items people try to bring into Australia.

A six-foot stuffed black bear, a Freddy Krueger glove and ‘credit card’ guns – these are just some of the weird and not so wonderful items stopped at Australian borders every week.

The Sunday Telegraph was given an exclusive look at a huge haul of items recently seized by Australian Border Force officers, who work around the clock to stop illicit goods and substances from reaching Australian homes.

In the last financial year alone, ABF officers inspected more than 25 million international mail items, 75,000 air cargo consignments and 56,000 sea cargo consignments imported into Australia to check for prohibited goods.

ABF Inspector Emily Hay pictured looking over some of the illicit imports that have been seized. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Every year ABF officers seize thousands of prohibited goods at the border, from counterfeit cosmetics and power tools to imitation firearms, knives, drugs hidden in taxidermy and even live animals,” a border force spokesman said.

“All goods entering Australia from overseas must cross the border at some point, and thanks to our advanced screening technology and highly skilled officers, we have the ability to narrow in, detect and stop these illicit goods or substances.”

A pair of seized boots made from cobra snakes. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Counterfeit designer goods are commonly seized by the ABF. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

While some of the prohibited items detected and seized by officers are just plain weird, others have the potential to cause major harm to people and the environment.

Taxidermied animals, including the black bear, a ferocious-looking mounted mountain lion and petrified turtles have been seized by officials, due to the fact their intended owners and recipients didn’t have the correct permits to ship them into Australia.

A seized taxidermy mountain lion. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

A taxidermy black bear seized by ABF officials. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Cowboy boots and a belt made from the skin and heads of cobras have also been stopped and seized by the ABF, while ornaments made of illegal ivory have also been confiscated.

Other items stopped at the border are far more sinister, with the ABF clocking 840 detections of undeclared firearms and firearm parts at the border last year alone. From gel blasters to silencers, bullets and pistols, and artillery shells, officials have seen it all.

A credit card pistol that has been seized. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

A seized Freddy Krueger glove. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Credit card guns” are gaining popularity, with officials detecting an increasing number of the tiny .22 calibre pistols. At first glance the tiny firearms look like nothing more than a plastic black card – but with the click of a couple of buttons, the cards fold out into tiny, but powerful, weapons.

Once something dangerous or prohibited – like weapons and drugs – is detected, border force can refer them to state or federal police for investigation – or the items are incinerated.

A huge portion of the ABF’s weekly seizures come in the form of dodgy counterfeit designer goods, and duty-evading cigarettes and tobacco.

Dozens of pallets of fake Gucci, Chanel and Versace are stopped at the Aussie border every week, while more than 2000 tonnes of tobacco alone was seized last year – including more than 1.7 million cigarette sticks.