Airline crew member caught attempting to smuggle tobacco in Australia

A foreign female airline crew member has been refused entry to Australia after allegedly being caught attempting to smuggle 10 cartons of cigarettes through Perth Airport. The 50-year-old Indonesian national arrived from Denpasar with other crew members late Tuesday night.

According to the Australian Border Force, the flight crew members were directed to the ABF’s secondary examination area where their baggage were to be x-rayed. An ABF officer observed the female crew member enter a toilet before her bag was screened. She was then caught dumping a number of cartons of cigarettes into a bin.

The maximum allowance a person can bring into Australia is 25 sticks. The woman was caught with a total of 10 cartons of cigarettes (2,000 sticks) seized, amounting to approximately $1,700.

Her visa was cancelled and she was removed back to Indonesia on a flight on Wednesday morning.

“It is important to note that ABF intervention extends to all travellers crossing the border, including airline crew members, who are not above the law,” ABF Regional Commander for WA Rod O’Donnell said. “Tobacco smuggling is one of ABF’s operational priorities, whether it be by organised crime syndicates or individual profiteers such as in this case.”

The ABF has made more than 110,000 detections of illegal tobacco at the border last year. They had seized almost 240 million cigarettes and 217 tonnes of tobacco worth more than $356 million in evaded tax.

In July, a 47-year-old Australian man was also caught attempting to smuggle almost 40 cartons of cigarettes through Perth Airport. He was ordered to pay fines and costs amounting to almost $35,000.