Australia targets illegal drug trade with cars

International organised criminals attempt to import hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs into Australia by paying their accomplices to hide the drugs in imported vehicles.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF) have recorded a significant increase in attempts to smuggle drugs into Australia in cars, vans and trucks, with a total of 303kg seized on arrival last year.

According to AFP information, trusted insiders and criminals working offshore are paid by criminal gangs to hide illegal drugs in vehicles before loading them onto a ro-ro ship bound for Australia.

The groups will then monitor and track the shipment live during transit using a GPS tracking device hidden in the vehicle. Once the vehicle arrives at the car dealership, the criminal group will attempt to remove the drugs using a spare key sent by criminals overseas. There is no indication that car dealers are aware of this activity.

In February this year, two Victorian men were charged by the AFP after allegedly attempting to import 139kg of cocaine concealed in 13 luxury buses aboard an international freighter bound for Adelaide, via Perth.

In another case in May 2024, MDMA worth more than $6.6 million was discovered during an inspection of a cargo ship at the Port of Fremantle in Western Australia. The MDMA was hidden in the panels of six new Peugeot vans.

In a separate incident, two Sydney men were arrested and charged by the AFP in July 2023 for allegedly smuggling 84kg of ketamine hidden in two new vans imported to Melbourne.

The ketamine was hidden in 79 plastic bags that were concealed in the panels of the vehicles. This amount of ketamine has an estimated wholesale value of more than $3.3 million.

According to AFP Commander Paula Hudson, transnational gangs with serious organised crime were targeting new vehicles from car dealers exported from Europe and South America.

“It is likely that criminals attempting to remove the illegal drugs will dismantle or damage the vehicle in the process,” Commander Hudson said. “People involved in this illegal trade do not care about the harm they cause to others, they only care about the money they can make.”

According to ABF Commander Chris Holzeimer, the increasingly close cooperation between law enforcement agencies is beginning to provide a real solution to the illegal and criminal attempts.

“ABF detection methods are among the best in the world when it comes to identifying drugs concealed on roll-on/roll-off vessels, and our highly qualified officers are no strangers to the development of concealment techniques.”