An airline worker will spend Christmas behind bars after he was allegedly caught trying to smuggle drugs hidden inside shampoo bottles at Sydney Airport.
The 29-year old man from Newtown in Sydney’s inner west was working on board an international flight from South Africa when he was stopped at Sydney Airport by Australian Border Force (ABF) on Saturday.
The man’s bags were searched by ABF officers who found three shampoo bottles and a water bottle containing 4.1L of liquid in a clip seal bag, wrapped in clothing.
Officers tested the liquid inside the bottles which returned a positive reading for gamma butyrolactone (GBL) a banned substance similar to GHB.
GBL is a chemical used in cleaning solutions and nail polish, but when consumed the body converts it into GHB, commonly known as fantasy or liquid ecstasy, according to WebMD.
ABF officers alerted the Australian Federal Police (AFP) who seized the bottles and arrested the Sydney airline worker.
An airline worker has been caught allegedly smuggling drugs hidden inside shampoo bottles at Sydney Airport. Picture: Supplied
Police allege the man was carrying 4.1L of gamma butyrolactone (GBL) a banned substance similar to GHB. Picture: Supplied
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Dom Stephenson said the AFP was relentless in its pursuit of anyone who used their work or community position to allegedly traffic drugs or perform other criminal activities.
“We will allege the man charged abused his trusted position as an airline employee and sought to use that access to smuggle a commercial quantity of drugs into Australia,” he said.
“The AFP and its partners work closely to protect the Australian community from the scourge of illicit drugs.”
ABF Superintendent Elke West said their officers consistently worked with other agencies to monitor information so they could act quickly to potential threats.
“Domestic and international collaboration is key to stamp out the threat of trusted insiders, with criminal syndicates attempting to exploit and recruit individuals to advance their illicit drug trafficking ventures,” she said.
“Our ABF officers use several detection capabilities to identify passengers and crew who may be attempting to thwart our border controls.
“With the evolving threat of trusted insiders, border agencies will continue to try and target any vulnerability within the supply chain.”
The Newtown man was charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug which carries a maximum life sentence in prison.
He appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court on Monday and was remanded in custody, he is due to appear in the same court on February 4.