Elderly Kiwi traveller faces life sentence after Melbourne airport drug bust

The 77-year-old passenger's belongings were found to contain 2kg of heroin powder. Photo / ABF

A 77-year-old New Zealander was stopped at Melbourne International Airport on Wednesday with 2kg of heroin in his possession.

The New Zealand national had arrived into the country on a flight from Thailand.

Yesterday Australian Border Force confirmed that the cases of the “elderly traveller” were found to contain fine white powder, secreted in the linings. This substance was revealed to be heroin after testing.

Under Australian law, the maximum penalty of importing the controlled substance is life in prison.

Border agents intercepted the dark suitcase, which had 2000g of packaged heroin powder, sewn into the lining.

The man appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday on drugs and smuggling charges, according to the ABF. He remains in custody.

“Drug traffickers prey on our community, causing drug-related crime and the associated health and social costs,” Detective Acting Superintendent Amanda Glover said.

“Every detection of drugs at the border keeps our community safer and ensure that drug traffickers cannot reap profits by preying on Australians.”

A statement from the Australian Border Force and Federal Police said it was a good example of the “real-time capabilities of our officers working at the border”.

Australian Border Force Superintendent Kelly-Anne Parish said that they were on watch for controlled substances at Australia’s airports and all 60 international seaports

“The ABF and AFP work hard to protect the Australian community from the scourge of drugs and ensure airports are not part of the illicit supply chain.”

According to the ABF they intercept 850 prohibited drug imports per week.

Earlier this year the force resolved a decade-long investigation into a smuggling operation being run by airline workers, with an arrest. An Australian national was arrested in March in connection with cocaine imports, which had been smuggled into the body of commercial jet aircraft arriving from Hong Kong in the early 2010s.

The ex-airline employee, whose brother and another accomplice had already been arrested and charged regarding the smuggling offence, made the mistake of returning to Australia after over a decade of living overseas.

AFP Detective Superintendent Morgen Blunden said that they arrested the man at the border on an 11-year-old outstanding arrest warrant.

“They might think that we will forget about their alleged crimes if they stay away long enough, but they are wrong.”