SYDNEY, New South Wales, Australia - Two foreign nationals are under police guard and facing life imprisonment after allegedly attempting to smuggle cocaine into Sydney by swallowing more than 200 pellets of the drug.
The men, a 26-year-old from the United Kingdom and a 28-year-old from the Netherlands, were intercepted by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers upon their arrival at Sydney Airport on an international flight on Thursday.
During an interview, ABF officers suspected the pair were internally concealing illicit substances and referred the case to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
The AFP then escorted both men to a local hospital, where they remained under police guard throughout the weekend.
During their hospitalisation, each man expelled 106 pellets. In total, 212 packages of cocaine, weighing approximately 2.33 kilograms, were recovered.
Authorities estimate the haul could have accounted for about 11,650 individual street deals, with a potential value exceeding $757,000.
The AFP has charged each man with one count of importing a marketable quantity of a border controlled drug, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. They are scheduled to appear in the NSW Local Court – Bail Division on Monday.
AFP Detective Superintendent Morgen Blunden issued a stark warning about the extreme dangers of internal drug concealment.
"Drug couriers are risking their own lives by transporting these drugs," Det. Supt. Blunden said in a statement Sunday. "If any pellets rupture in a courier's stomach or another part of their body, it would cause them to overdose."
He also highlighted the unhygienic conditions involved in drug production and transport.
ABF Acting Superintendent Neil Singh echoed the health warnings, stating the practice "is an incredibly dangerous practice, with the potential to cause lifelong damage to organs and could prove fatal."
Acting Supt Singh detailed the methods used to detect such smugglers, noting officers use intelligence, behavioural analysis, and technology to identify suspects.
"The internal secretion of these drugs is an incredibly dangerous practice, with the potential to cause lifelong damage to organs and could prove fatal," he said. "Rest assured our ABF officers are on the lookout and have the knowledge and intel before you even step off the plane."
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