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.”
Currently, six participants are in their second year of the program, working across key AFP areas such as Covert and Technical Operations, data analytics, software development, and hardware engineering.
The facility was officially opened by President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu at the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital in Suva, strengthening the country’s ability to diagnose and treat complex cardiac conditions locally.
