Furious Woman Erupts At Incriminating Discovery | S8 E2 FULL EPISODE | Border Security Australia

Customs officers in Australia uncover undeclared luxury goods, suspicious passports, and potential drug parcels at the border, leading to investigations and warnings.

Key Takeaways

Undeclared luxury goods and prohibited items can lead to investigations and penalties at Australian borders.
Carrying passports of other individuals is highly suspicious and triggers further immigration inquiries.
Biosecurity risks like untreated bark can result in confiscation or destruction of items to protect Australia's environment.
Customs officers use X-ray technology and intelligence to detect and intercept illegal drug shipments.
Warnings and education are sometimes used instead of fines to encourage compliance with border laws.

What the video covers

A woman returning from China is stopped in Sydney with undeclared luxury goods worth $5,000, including a handbag and watch.
Officers find three passports of unknown Chinese women and business cards from a Sydney escort agency in her luggage, prompting further inquiries.
A New Zealand man with criminal convictions is questioned about his eligibility for immigration clearance while visiting family in Australia.
A school teacher returning from Thailand is found carrying undeclared food items and bark pencils, which are prohibited due to biosecurity risks.
The teacher chooses to have the bark pencils destroyed and receives a warning instead of a fine for the undeclared items.
At Melbourne Mail Center, officers inspect a suspicious parcel from China resembling a previous methamphetamine seizure.
X-ray scans reveal suspicious darker areas in the parcel, leading to a detailed inspection of unsealed food packages.
Customs officers emphasize the importance of preventing illegal drugs from entering the country to protect public safety.
The video highlights the challenges Customs and Border Protection face in enforcing import regulations and immigration laws.
Warnings and fines serve as deterrents to ensure travelers declare all goods and comply with Australian border regulations.

Chapters

What undeclared items were found on the woman returning from China?

Officers found receipts for undeclared luxury goods including a handbag and watch worth $5,000, as well as three passports belonging to unknown Chinese women and business cards from an escort agency.

Why were the bark pencils confiscated from the school teacher?

The bark pencils were confiscated because bark can carry fungal spores and plant pathogens, posing a biosecurity risk to Australia, and untreated bark is not allowed to be brought into the country.

How do Customs officers detect suspicious parcels at the mail center?

Officers use X-ray machines to scan parcels and compare them to previous seizures, looking for unusual dark areas or inconsistencies, which can indicate the presence of illegal substances such as methamphetamines.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

In Sydney, Customs and Border Protection officers have stopped a woman returning home from a trip to China. She is not happy about having her bag searched. And it doesn't take long for Officer Peak to find a reason why. Have these things with you? Where are they? The woman is carrying receipts for undeclared goods. Where are they? Outside. They include a handbag and watch worth $5,000 that should have been presented to Customs and Border Protection on re-entering the country.

Speaker A

But Officer Pete becomes increasingly concerned when a large number of business cards from an escort agency in Sydney are discovered in the passenger's suitcase along with passports belonging to three unknown Chinese women. It's highly unusual for another person to carry somebody else's [Music] [Applause] passport. For the majority of New Zealanders traveling to Australia, they do not require a visa to enter the country. But for a small few, it's a different story. I've got a New Zealand passenger who's arrived today, um, who's declared criminal convictions on his incoming passenger card. So, I'm going to go in and interview him and ask him to provide further information about those convictions and see whether he is immigration clearing.

Speaker A

Are you okay for me to call you Christopher? I, yes. All right. What I have to do today is need to make an assessment whether you'll be given immigration clearance. You must not have any criminal convictions totaling a period of 12 months or more. Why did they tell me back then? You asked to your Maybe if you had gone to the embassy, they would have told you that you needed to apply for a visa prior to coming. Passport. Why did they give you The passport's got nothing to do with it. It's a visa for Australia. The passenger has served a 2 and 1/2 year prison sentence for drink driving. Back in might have been 2004. I got sentenced and then I got out in 2004, 5, 6, 7. Okay. Well, was it just drink driving or was there more to it? I think no. No. So many so many drink. I accumulated too much drink driving. His reason for coming to Australia is to celebrate his brother's 50th birthday. So, how long's it been since you've seen your brother? I haven't seen him for about 20 years. Okay. That's the same with my whole family. What my mission is, visit all my nieces and nephews, you know, and my brothers cuz they're all over here. I'm the the unwanted child of my of my brothers and sisters, okay? You know, the bad boy.

Speaker A

[Applause] This school teacher and her partner have returned home to Sydney after a holiday to Thailand. We've just got a bag here and it's got a whole lot of things that are food and we as we don't know what type of food it is, we need to identify what sort of food it is. The items do not seem to be concealed, but the passenger has declared she's not bringing any food into the country, dude.

Speaker A

Okay. Yeah. See, these things should have been declared, man. I'm sorry. So, why didn't you declare the food? I actually didn't even think that they were because I don't know.

Speaker A

It says any food. Yep, you're right. But the food is not the only concern for Officer Gale. What have we got here?

Speaker A

Pencil. Pencils are made of wood. No. Bark. Bark. Okay. Oh my gosh. Bark is not allowed into Australia unless it's uh devitalized because it can have plant pathogens. That's fine. But uh that's yeah, these things you really should have declared. All of this wood and especially the bath pencils are really important. [Music] Customs and Border Protection have discovered a number of items of interest in this passenger's luggage. But of greatest concern is the discovery of three passports she is carrying of unknown Chinese women. We found a number of business cards pertaining to an escort service here in Sydney. and one could draw the conclusion that these three people may be employed in some regard with that business. Um, at the moment we're not, it's not entirely certain uh what the connection is, but that's why we're making our inquiries.

Speaker A

It's getting worse and worse for you, isn't that? I don't know. You're safe. Well, I found I found you carrying three passports for three different people that aren't traveling with you. I found about $5,000 worth of receipts. I found about 5,000 business cards for a brothel. Is there anything else you want to tell me? The Department of Immigration and Citizenship are called to investigate the three passports and determine if the women are residents of Australia or China. for Customs and Border Protection. There is also the matter of $5,000 of receipts for luxury goods that should have been declared. There was a Louis Vuitton handbag and some uh very expensive watch that was exported and the tax was claimed on the goods. Uh if the goods stay out of the country, that's fine. If they're reimported, they are obliged to declare the goods. The goods weren't declared. Um so there are still taxes and duties owing on those goods. You've been caught out, haven't you?

Speaker A

[Music] Teacher Kathy didn't declare her snack food on her return to Sydney, but it's the buck pencils which are of concern for biosecurity officers. All the rest that you can have, but it's the bath pencils you can't well needs treatment.

Speaker A

I bought them for presents for the kids at school. Good evening. Presents need to be declared, man. Sorry, I didn't even realize actually.

Speaker A

The reason why the B pencils were taken is because Bark can have fungal spores and plant pathogens. And so it's mandatory treatment for all bark that comes into Australia. Oh, I can't get this stuff. Kathy chose to have the pencils destroyed rather than have them treated, but she can keep her snack food. This is just a a warning. It says here that the offense could have resulted in an on the spot fine of up to $220.

Speaker A

This on this occasion, I'm not going to take any further action. You do need to be a bit more aware of declaring everything. Officer Gail is confident the warning will serve as a deterrent and this passenger will not offend again. According to our guidelines as to whether someone is fined or not, and according to our guidelines, she didn't need to be fined today, but a written warning was good enough for that.

Speaker A

[Music] At the Mail Center in Melbourne, Customs and Border Protection Officer Rocky is on the alert for parcels of a particular size and appearance. Okay. Uh this is a consignment, um, coming out of China which was similar to a seizure that we had a few days ago that contained, uh, suspected methamphetamines. What alerted me to this parcel is that the, uh, the consignor and consignee are both the same or very similar to what we've had. Uh and the handwriting is pretty much identical to the one that we've seized as well. The box is put through the x-ray machine and the contents compared to the previous seizure. Uh we've got two, uh, two areas here of interest to us which, uh, which are a lot lot darker than the rest of the, uh, the commodity in here. Once opened by Australian Post, Officer Rocky takes the package to a deconstruction room to try and determine what may have been causing the darker images on the X-ray. Okay, as we open it up, you can actually see that there are some food type products out of China. And there's something not quite right about the very first package out of the box. As you can see, it's not commercially sealed. So, we'll have a look in here.

Speaker A

This New Zealand passenger's in Sydney to attend his brother's 50th birthday party, but due to his criminal convictions, he may be stopped at the border. He hasn't seen his family members in over 20 years. Yep. Do they know he's coming? Yeah. His sister Laya is waiting for him outside and he claims he'll be staying with her at her house.

Speaker A

What else was there? I spoke to him about his criminal convictions. Um, basically he said sentenced in 200 what happened in 2004 sentence and he got released in 2007. Is that when he was in prison? That's what he's 2004.

Speaker A

He's claiming that. That's the most he can remember. Prior to that, he can't remember much. Well, he

Speaker A

have declared. All of this wood and especially the bath pencils are really important. [Music] Customs and Border Protection have discovered a number of items of interest in this passenger's luggage. But of greatest concern is the discovery of three passports she is carrying of

Speaker A

unknown Chinese women. We found a number of business cards pertaining to an escort service here in Sydney. and one could draw the conclusion that these three people may be employed in some regard with that business. Um, at the

Speaker A

moment we're not, it's not entirely certain uh what the connection is, but that's why we're making our inquiries.

Speaker A

It's getting worse and worse for you, isn't that? I don't know. You're safe. Well, I found I found you carrying three passports for three different people that aren't traveling with you. I found about $5,000 worth of receipts. I found

Speaker A

about 5,000 business cards for a brothel. Is there anything else you want to tell me? The Department of Immigration and Citizenship are called to investigate the three passports and determine if the women are residents of Australia or China. for Customs and Border

Speaker A

Protection. There is also the matter of $5,000 of receipts for luxury goods that should have been declared. There was a Louis Vuitton handbag and some uh very expensive watch that was exported and the tax was claimed on the goods. Uh if the goods

Speaker A

stay out of the country, that's fine. If they're reimpported, they are obliged to declare the goods. The goods weren't declared. Um so there are still taxes and duties owing on those goods. You've been caught out, haven't you?

Speaker A

[Music] Teacher Kathy didn't declare her snack food on her return to Sydney, but it's the buck pencils which are of concern for biocurity officers. All the rest that you can have, but it's the bath pencils you can't well needs treatment.

Speaker A

I bought them for presents for the kids at school. Good evening. Presents need to be declared, man. Sorry, I didn't even realize actually.

Speaker A

The reason why the B pencils were taken is because Bark can have fungal spores and plant pathogens. And so it's mandatory treatment for all bark that comes into Australia. Oh, I can't get this stuff. Kathy chose to have the

Speaker A

pencils destroyed rather than have them treated, but she can keep her snack food. This is just a a warning. It says here that the offense could have resulted on on the spot fine of up to $220.

Speaker A

This on this occasion, I'm not going to take any further action. You do need to be a bit more aware of declaring everything. Officer Gail is confident the warning will serve as a deterrent and this passenger will not offend

Speaker A

again. According to our guidelines as to whether someone is fined or not, and according to our guidelines, she didn't need to be fine today, but a written warning was good enough for that.

Speaker A

[Music] At the Mail Center in Melbourne, Customs and Border Protection Officer Rocky is on the alert for parcels of a particular size and appearance. Okay. Uh this is a consignment um coming out of China which was similar to a seizure that we had a

Speaker A

few days ago that contained uh suspected methamphetamines. What alerted me to this parcel is that the uh the consignor and consigne are both the same or very similar to what we've had. Uh and the handwriting is pretty much identical to

Speaker A

the one that we've seized as well. The box is put through the x-ray machine and the contents compared to the previous seizure. Uh we've got two uh two areas here of interest to us which uh which are a lot lot darker than the rest of

Speaker A

the uh the commodity in here. Once opened by Australian Post, Officer Rocky takes the package to a deconstruction room to try and determine what may have been causing the darker images on the X-ray. Okay, as we open it up, you can

Speaker A

actually see that there are some food type products out of China. And there's something not quite right about the very first package out of the box. As you can see, it's not commercially sealed. So, we'll have a look in here.

Speaker A

This New Zealand passengers in Sydney to attend his brother's 50th birthday party, but due to his criminal convictions, he may be stopped at the border. He hasn't seen his family members in over 20 years. Yep. Do they know he's coming? Yeah. His sister Laya

Speaker A

is waiting for him outside and he claims he'll be staying with her at her house.

Speaker A

What else was there? I spoke to him about his criminal convictions. Um, basically he said sentenced in 200 what happened in 2004 sentence and he got released in 2007. Is that when he was in prison? That's what he's 2004.

Speaker A

He's claiming that. That's the most he can remember. Prior to that, he can't remember much. Well, he said that his memory is not very good.

Speaker A

Nicole contacts one of the man's sisters who confirms he is here for his brother's birthday and will be staying with family. So yourself and Laya, but she can't shed any light on his criminal past. Are you aware of any of

Speaker A

your brother's previous history in New Zealand? Okay. So, you're not aware of any um criminal convictions or anything that he might have? Okay. All right. Thank you very much for your time. While Officer Nicole's been on the phone, new

Speaker A

information has come to light from New Zealand Interpol, which suggests his criminal history is much more extensive than he claims. He's had continuing offenses from 1970 up until [Music] [Applause] 2009. Returning from a trip to China, this passenger is carrying receipts for

Speaker A

a handbag and a watch worth $5,000 that should have been declared to Customs and Border Protection. While the handbag is in her possession, she says her father is wearing the watch outside.

Speaker A

But when a Customs and Border Protection officer attempts to retrieve it, they return with the woman's husband. That watch I know that watch has already been made a claim on it. Okay. It wasn't declared. It wasn't declared. On his

Speaker A

father's arm. On his father's arm. His father come with her. Yeah, I know that. Yeah, you know that. That's it. Yeah, but I only know that because I found the empty box in the bag.

Speaker A

Okay. The fact that he's made admissions that we're not in possession. The watch is good enough. Admissions have been made.

Speaker A

So, we can continue with that to recoup the GST on the goods. Thank you. Do you like to go now? You want to get back inside? Thank you.

Speaker A

Get back outside now. But as the husband is led away, the already agitated woman starts to unravel.

Speaker A

Well, we got a speaker going to come down and then she loses control. So, we can have a look in here and see if there's any concealments inside this.

Speaker A

Back at the Melbourne Mail Center, Officer Rocky is examining the contents of a suspect package from China. Okay.

Speaker A

And by opening this up, I can see two anomalies inside the packaging wrapped up in foil, which aren't consistent with the uh the rest of the consignment.

Speaker A

These two items here are the anomalies that uh we saw on the X-ray. And by the looks of it, they are a white crystal type substance, similar to the uh substance we had a few days ago. So, what we'll do

Speaker A

is we'll run a test on this on our itemizer and see what reading we get. A swab is taken of the white crystal residue on the outside of the foil package, and it doesn't take long to get a result.

Speaker A

This has actually resulted in a positive alarm for methamphetamines. Very similar to the previous consignment as well. Very high reading too. Okay, what we'll do now is weigh the substance. Okay, we've got 116 g of suspected methamphetamines in this

Speaker A

shipment here. So, it is a large quantity. And this is actually what the substance looks like. The methamphetamines, also known as ice.

Speaker A

Officer Rocky knows that keeping these drugs off the street makes a difference. That's what we're here to do, you know.

Speaker A

We're here to to protect the uh the borders and and keep all the contraband off our streets. So, uh every uh every seizure we do get, whether it be, you know, 5 g to 10 kilos, you know, it's

Speaker A

it's always rewarding to know that we've done our bit to detect the prohibited substance.

Speaker A

[Music] This New Zealand passenger says he spent 4 years in prison for multiple drink driving offenses, but information from Interpol suggests his criminal history is much more extensive. He's had continuing offenses from 1970 up until 2009. What can you say to basically show

Speaker A

us that he's changed? Basically, you need to tell me why you believe we should immigration clear you today. When you turn the age of 50, okay, that's when I realized, you know, that there is a life out here. Oh, yeah. Okay. Oh,

Speaker A

well, I'm going to change now. I'm a good guy now, you know. Yeah. And I don't drink. I haven't drunken since uh what, 8 years now.

Speaker A

All right. While he says he's turned over a new leaf, officers have serious concerns and discuss the case with Supervisor Tracy. So, I guess as a New Zealand citizen though, key for us are the criminal convictions and most

Speaker A

important the amount of time he's been sentenced to imprisonment. What did he have to say about these offenses?

Speaker A

Basically, he said once he turned 50, he realized there was more to life than doing what he's been doing. Christopher waits anxiously to see if immigration will overlook his criminal past and allow him to reunite with his family. I

Speaker A

can see here offenses in 2005, 2006 2008 2009. So there still appears to be some offenses since that [Music] time. After finding passports belonging to three women in her luggage, as well as 5,000 business cards for an escort

Speaker A

service in Sydney, and not declaring luxury goods on her incoming passenger card, this woman is starting to feel the pressure.

Speaker A

That's when I got a supervisor to intervene just to let her know that if she carries on like that and we'll be forced to take appropriate measures. In an attempt to control her behavior, supervising officer Dave brings the

Speaker A

woman's husband. You know what I'm saying? Please calm down. There's no need to try and close her in. Usually, you know, it's a combination of factors. They're they know they've been busted. They're tired from the long flight. It's early in the

Speaker A

morning, and it just can all sort of accumulate, and they can lose the plot momentarily. So, this is the deal. Once she's calmed down, Customs and Border Protection officers inform the passenger through an interpreter that she is required to pay $600 duty on the luxury

Speaker A

goods. But she now claims the handbag she is carrying is not the one she bought. Um the young lady is saying that um she and her friend in China have the um same bag. So she bought the identical

Speaker A

model to the one she already had and she'd bought that earlier. She'd had it last year. She said, "Why didn't you tell me that before? Why didn't you tell me that before? Why didn't you tell me that this was the same bag, but

Speaker A

She's saying the watch fair enough, but not necessarily the day. Trust you. Officers doubt the woman's story and remind her that she is not off the hook yet. You haven't declared the watch. You haven't declared the business cards. You're carrying three passports

Speaker A

that belong to somebody else. You've been aggressive. Okay, this isn't looking good right now.

Speaker A

Okay, in Sydney, this New Zealand passenger is waiting patiently for immigration to decide if he'll be allowed to enter the country. So, have a look at the reason why he's coming. So, you spoke to family about that? Yeah, they confirmed that

Speaker A

he's here for the brother's 50th. They confirmed they'll be staying with him. They confirm brother will be buying the return airline ticket home. They don't know anything about his criminal convictions. They're not aware of this history. No. Yeah. So, it's probably

Speaker A

something he's looking to change. I spent 25 years inside. 25 years of my life and then until I turned 50 and I just Yeah. I just had enough. E, you know, it's time to chuck it all in and

Speaker A

do do the right thing. He may be doing the right thing now, but a lifetime of lawbreaking is a hard thing to overlook.

Speaker A

And a decision has been made to refuse your immigration clearance today. And we'll have to apply for a visa overseas, the Australian embassy, so they can make a proper assessment of the criminal convictions. Window. We'll call the airline and try and arrange something

Speaker A

with them hopefully today. Christopher has a philosophical view on the outcome. dimster the breaks, you know, that's all I can say. You know, that's it. You know, it's my my fault. You know, I'm the one that's got all those down on

Speaker A

that paper. [Music] A search of this woman's luggage has revealed not only undeclared luxury goods, but also thousands of business cards for an escort agency in Sydney.

Speaker A

And now an immigration officer will investigate why she is also carrying three passports of unknown Chinese women. You're just going to help me to interpret. Immigration officer Greg will now question the woman using her husband as an interpreter. They have established

Speaker A

that the women from the passports live in China and immigration believes the passenger intends to help them come to Australia. So you having the passports, what were you thinking of going to do next with the passports?

Speaker A

Come on. The woman tells officer Greg she intended to give the passports to an agency in Chinatown and they would help the women get visas for Australia. Just like a help, you know what I mean? Yeah.

Speaker A

Now, the business cards, sorry. Yeah, the business card. Yeah, is my friend let me let me do that and I just signed a sample for her. She don't know nothing. She Okay. So, she doesn't know anything about them. No, she don't know

Speaker A

nothing. Okay. So, and the girls nothing to do with your friend's business. Nothing. Come on. You sure? I'm sure.

Speaker A

Told you. What do you want me to think? Yeah. I don't think so. No, I know. It's like All right. We'll we'll make a decision from there. I'll leave you with the customs, gentlemen. Both customs and border protection and immigration

Speaker A

officers don't believe the passenger poses a threat to the border. The passenger must pay the duty on the watch and the three passports are returned to her. But Officer Pete gives her a stern warning. Got you on the computer now.

Speaker A

Okay, we've got you on the computer. If this happens again, there'll be more problems. You're very [Music] lucky.

Speaker A

[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]

Topics:CustomsBorder SecurityAustraliaUndeclared GoodsImmigrationBiosecurityDrug SeizurePassport FraudLuxury GoodsTravel Inspection

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