Australian Police Find Cocaine Stashed Inside Container's Steel Frame

 

Authorities in Australia have seized a shipment of cocaine found concealed within the steel structure of a container's floor, another innovation in the game of cat-and-mouse between smugglers and customs officials. 

On October 24, intelligence led officers of the Australian Border Force to inspect a box arriving from Panama that contained a declared cargo of wooden slats. Upon X-ray scanning, they noticed something unusual under the floorboards. 

Drug dogs signaled the presence of contraband at the same area identified on the X-ray - a steel tube crossmember that comprised part of the frame of the bottom of the container. A cutaway section in the side of the crossmember allowed access to the interior of the tube, and after examination, ABF officers pulled out more than 100 bricks of cocaine wrapped in black plastic. The total consignment came to about 65 kilograms. 

Courtesy ABF / AFP

"This amount of cocaine could have resulted in 324,000 street level deals, which could have done untold harm had it made it into the Australian community," Australian Federal Police acting Superintendent Shane Scott said in a statement. "Investigations into the origin of the shipment are ongoing, and anyone with information regarding this matter should contact authorities."

Australia leads the world in per-capita cocaine consumption, and the latest wastewater monitoring data suggest that total ingestion has reached an all-time record: nearly seven tonnes of the drug were consumed by end users nationwide in 2023-4, up from just three tonnes in 2016-17. With world-leading prices of up to US$130,000 per kilo, Australia's wholesale market size is fast approaching US$1 billion per year - before taking retail markup into account. The combination of high demand and sky-high prices make Australia a growing (if logistically challenging) destination market for smugglers.