Melbourne Airport Staff Accused of Drug Smuggling

Facts

• Australia's Border Force has accused 70 employees at Melbourne airport — including baggage handlers and groundcrew — of aiding organized criminals in smuggling illicit drugs into Victoria.¹
• A year-long Border Force investigation also accused airline crew members of illegal drug use and distribution in the country, with multiple international airline employees allegedly found hiding banned tobacco products in false-bottom suitcases.²
• According to Superintendent Kelly-Anne Parish, portable X-ray machines that scanned bags, cargo holds, and crew areas helped bust the staff, some of who are suspected of working within organized crime.³
• The investigation, which included probes of air travel supply chains over the past 12 months, is ongoing and will reportedly target people with connections to transnational organized criminal cartels.¹
• This comes after five people, including Americans, were arrested at Melbourne Airport in April for allegedly trying to smuggle $10M worth of cocaine from the US to Australia.⁴

Sources: ¹YouTube, ²Guardian, ³The Canberra Times and ⁴Abc.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by AFP. While Australia does face a dangerous drug-trafficking industry emanating out of East Asia, authorities have successfully partnered with governments such as China for decades to intercept these deliveries and save lives. With foreknowledge of which countries are drug-making hotspots, authorities have taken tons of methamphetamines, cocaine, and other lethal narcotics off the streets.
• Narrative B, as provided by CNN. While East Asia was historically the region to focus on, Mexican drug cartels have now become the most notorious providers of meth in Australia. As the government catches up to the changing geographical aspects of the drug trade, states are making things even more complicated by decriminalizing hard drugs in small amounts. The government needs to punish both drug smuggling and use if it hopes to end this crisis.

Predictions