A cruise ship guest has made a first appearance in court and faces a possible life sentence in prison for allegedly importing around 10 kg of cocaine into Australia. He was arrested at the weekend after the cruise ship docked in Sydney.
It followed a search of his stateroom, which found 28 individually wrapped packs of cocaine which were hidden in a ceiling cavity.
Cruise Guest Could Face Life in Prison If Found Guilty
The man in custody hasn’t been named but is a 48-year-old Brazilian national. He was charged with one count each of the possession and importing of a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs. Australian Federal Police said further inquiries uncovered cellphone communications with alleged drug traffickers.
He was also found in possession of special body packing materials, which are used to hide drug packs on the person when passing through border control checkpoints.
“The cruising season brings an additional opportunity for criminal syndicates to attempt to smuggle illicit drugs into the country, however Australia Border Force officers are very attuned to their pivoting tactics,” said ABF Superintendent Matt O’Connor.
Name of The Cruise Ship Not Disclosed
Authorities haven’t said what ship the man was a guest on, although it is possibly the MSC Magnifica, which is on a round-the-world voyage and had visited Brazil and Argentina several weeks ago.
“This amount of cocaine could have been sold in the community as 10,000 individual street deals of one gram for about A$3 million,” said Australia Federal Police Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy.
“Our message to criminal groups is that the AFP and our partners will be unyielding in our efforts to protect the community from the harm caused by illicit drugs and associated criminal behavior. Drug traffickers are motivated by greed.”
