A 35-year-old Perth woman has been sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to possess nearly 11 kilograms of methamphetamine smuggled into Australia disguised as wall coating.
She was handed the sentence on 9 May 2025 in the Perth District Court, after pleading guilty in December last year to attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, contrary to section 307.5 of the Criminal Code (Cth). She must serve a minimum of four years and 10 months before being eligible for parole.
AFP Detective Acting Inspector Gabby Adam said the bust prevented tens of thousands of dangerous street deals.
“Had 11kg of methamphetamine reached the community, it could have been sold as about 110,000 individual street deals,” Det A/Insp Adam said.
“On average, 38 people were hospitalised each day in Australia for methamphetamine-related incidents in 2022–23 – it is a very damaging drug.”
The import was uncovered on 6 October, 2021, when Australian Border Force (ABF) officers x-rayed a suspicious air cargo shipment from the United States to Western Australia. The container was labelled as wall coating, but initial testing indicated it contained methamphetamine.
AFP forensic experts later confirmed the thick black paste inside was laced with around 11kg of meth. The substance was so corrosive it began to eat through the container during storage.
Authorities replaced the container with a harmless decoy and delivered it to a short-stay apartment in Scarborough on 18 October, 2021. The woman collected it and later met a 36-year-old man. The pair drove to a house in Willetton where they attempted to extract the drugs using a saw. They were arrested by AFP officers with ABF support as they tried to flee the scene.
ABF Superintendent James Payne warned that law enforcement remains alert to evolving smuggling tactics.
“Make no mistake, regardless of how creative criminals think they are being in their attempts to smuggle illicit drugs into the country, we are onto them,” Supt Payne said.
“We work closely with partner agencies like the AFP to make sure those seeking to profit from harm are brought to justice.”
This woman is the second person to be sentenced over the failed import, with a male accomplice receiving nine years and six months in December 2023 after pleading guilty to the same offence.
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