8 NOVEMBER 2013

Criminals get creative with drugs concealments

Along with a range of other drugs, Customs seized over 29 kilograms of Contac NT at the border this month, which would have produced over $8.3 million of methamphetamine. This included concealments in a range of household items and outdoor equipment.

Folding chairs, car seat covers, vacuum cleaners, shampoo bottles, lint rollers, and even lollipops – the seizure list goes on.

Customs Manager Investigations, Shane Panettiere, says criminals are always trying new and creative methods to smuggle drugs into the country but Customs officers are well-trained and have a keen eye for suspicious items.

Officers extracted two kilograms of Contac NT from a package of car cushions, which seemed heavy at over nine kilograms. The Contac NT would have produced methamphetamine worth up to $620,000.

Tell-tale pink and yellow granules found in camping gear bags containing folding chairs and fishing rods led officers to over 1.5 kilograms of Contac NT hidden inside the metal tubing of the chairs.

X-ray images identified inconsistencies in two tubs of lollipops from China that contained ‘Contac NT lollipops’ that were moulded into shape and individually wrapped. The 422 grams of Contac NT recovered would have manufactured methamphetamine worth up to $127,000 on the streets.

Spring cleaning took on new meaning when X-rays of a vacuum cleaner showed inconsistencies in the motor that turned out to be four circular blocks of compressed Contac NT, which would have yielded almost $123,000 worth of methamphetamine.

Lint rollers that fell apart on handling added another 903 grams of Contac NT to the seizure sum; while X-rays of a shampoo bottle found 450 grams of compressed Contac NT balls.

Mr Panettiere says this is a sample of the range of seizures Customs has made.

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