Between 1 January and 1 December 2024, these consignments, smuggled via air and sea cargo, resulted in the seizure of more than 45 tonnes of methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin.
The joint investigation has revealed criminal syndicates are using legitimate businesses importing goods via Sydney from or through Panama to smuggle cocaine.
“All travellers have the right to feel safe, and the AFP has zero tolerance for any form of inappropriate or offensive behaviour, including on board an aircraft.”
The top contributors to drug seizures bound for Australia in the past financial year were Myanmar with 20,561kg, Fiji with 4,270kg, Colombia with 4,071kg, and Mexico with 3,957kg.
Two ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed by firing squad in 2015, sparking diplomatic tensions between Australia and Indonesia.
“This was a brazen attempt to smuggle a substantial quantity of cocaine into Australia, which could have resulted in untold damage had it reached our community.”
“This museum will celebrate a vital thread through the history of our modern nation. I can’t think of a better site than Haymarket – a place synonymous with the Chinese-Australian story – or a more fitting time of year to open it.”
