Man allegedly caught hiding child abuse material in underwear and shoes

A man has been arrested after allegedly attempting to smuggle child abuse material into Australia by hiding a hard drive in his underwear.

A Sydney man is behind bars after Australian Border Force officers allegedly discovered a significant stash of child abuse material hidden in his underwear, shoes, and electronic devices after he flew into Sydney from Fiji.

The 52-year-old was arrested at Sydney Airport in the early hours of June 25, 2025, after ABF officers selected him for screening and uncovered a disturbing cache of material hidden both on his body and across his devices.

A forensic examination of his phone allegedly revealed a large volume of child abuse material stored across multiple applications. During an interview, the man allegedly admitted to deleting some images before arriving in Australia.

Following a baggage search, officers allegedly located an additional mobile phone, tablet, smartwatch, hard drive, and laptop, all of which were seized for further inspection.

But a frisk search allegedly revealed the full extent of the concealment; five external hard drives were allegedly hidden in the man’s shoes and another secreted in his underwear.

The man was arrested and charged with the importation of child abuse material, use of a carriage service to transmit child abuse material on January 19, 2023, and between December 6, 2022 and June 25, 2025, and obstruction of Commonwealth officials.

Acting Superintendent Michael Mahony praised the vigilance of ABF officers and described the case as “a disturbing example” of the extreme lengths individuals go to in order to conceal illegal activity.

“This detection is the direct result of a robust combination of intelligence profiling, data analysis, and the vigilance of our frontline officers,“ Superintendent Mahony said.

“But this isn’t just about apprehending this individual, it’s about protecting children from harm. Every file intercepted is a potential crime prevented and a child safeguarded.

“This case is a disturbing example of the extreme lengths some individuals go to in order to conceal their criminal activity, and we congratulate the officers involved for removing one more predator from our streets.”

The man was refused bail and is expected to reappear in court on August 19.