Revealed: the weirdest ways criminal syndicates smuggle drugs

Police have lifted the lid on the weirdest and most creative ways criminal syndicates have tried to bring drugs into Australia - including as Christmas gifts.

Police have lifted the lid on the weirdest and most creative ways organised criminal networks have tried to bring drugs into Australia - including by secreting them inside Christmas gifts.

The Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force intercepted more than 740 consignments of drugs this year before they could get to our streets.

The dangerous substances were found hidden inside everyday items including paint brushes, bath products, wine and herbal tea, with authorities seizing more than 45 tonnes of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin this year.

That included more than $120,000 worth of heroin, which a WA couple attempted to smuggle into Australia hidden inside their own bodies.

A WA couple excreted 13 pellets containing over $100,000 worth of heroin. Picture: AFP/Supplied.

When they were stopped by ABF officers after returning from an overseas holiday, scans found the couple had concealed the drugs within themselves.

They later excreted 13 plastic pellets containing 182g of pure heroin, worth an estimated $127,500.

The 49-year-old man was sentenced in the Perth District Court to seven years and four months in jail, while the 49-year-old woman was jailed for four years.

Earlier this year investigators intercepted a 900kg shipment worth of methamphetamine when it arrived from the United States.

The consignment - worth an estimated $828m - was found hidden inside industrial machinery.

900kg of methamphetamine was seized in Sydney found hidden inside machinery. Picture: Supplied/AFP.

The shipment was worth an estimated $828m. Picture: Supplied/AFP.

In Melbourne in February, a Nigerian national was arrested after Border Force officers detected anomalies in a shipment of paint brushes from Vietnam.

Police allegedly later found 9kg of heroin secreted inside the brushes.

The following month in Sydney, officers allegedly found 20kg of methamphetamine hidden in a Taiwanese national’s luggage concealed in wine bottles, herbal tea and bath salts.

In a separate seizure in Sydney, police found 4200 bottles of 1,4 Butanediol - commonly known as bute - hidden in bottles labelled as essence oils.

An Italian national was this year sentenced to three years in jail for his role in a drug importation scheme in which the substances were hidden inside of Christmas gifts.

The AFP launched an investigation after Border Force officials found 1.5kg of ketamine hidden inside stuffed toys that arrived on Christmas Day last year.

An Italian national attempted to traffic high purity ketamine hidden in Christmas gifts. Picture: AFP/Supplied.

“Australia is one of the most attractive markets for transnational serious organised criminal syndicates because of the high prices their drugs can command,” AFP Commander Paula Hudson said.

“The AFP remains alert to the fact that syndicates are relentless in their attempts to flood our shores, with the sole motivation of profit and greed. Our message is clear: your efforts will fail – we are and remain a step ahead.

“The AFP doesn’t take a holiday and will be keeping watch, ready to act.”

Originally published as Revealed: the weirdest ways criminal syndicates smuggle drugs