A 28-year-old man was sentenced this week in the Adelaide District Court to three years and nine months imprisonment, after pleading guilty to attempting to import nearly five kilos of pseudoephedrine, a precursor to methamphetamine.
The Sheidow Park man was arrested by Australian Border Force (ABF) investigators in July 2022, after two packages sent from India and labelled as containing ‘kitchen items’ were intercepted by ABF officers at the International Mail Centre in Melbourne.
Officers tested a white crystalline substance concealed in the kitchen items, which came back positive for pure pseudoephedrine.
The illicit drugs were substituted with an inert substance and delivered to the intended address in Christie Downs, South Australia, where the man signed for the delivery.
ABF Inspector Regional Investigations South Australia, Mark Bateman said the quantity of pseudoephedrine seized would have yielded a street value of more than $2 million of methamphetamine.
“Methamphetamine is doing an unbelievable amount of harm to the community and our officers remain committed to detecting these illicit drugs at the border and prosecuting those who import them into the country,” Inspector Bateman said.
“Every time officers and border protection systems do their job it is reducing this harm.”
The man received a non-parole period of two years.
The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $1.1 million.
Members of the community who suspect suspicious border-related activity can report it anonymously 24/7 through the Border Watch portal.
