Thread: Drug Cops Jail Tourist Over Tea In Luggage

Woman freed after ´drugs´ found to be ice tea - Australia - World - Dalje.com

.."test on the powder". Not on her blood.

Strange. Probably this bag was used for an other purpose before.

Gee. Five days in an Australian prison whilst you were innocent of knowingly bringing into the country an illegal drug would be horrendous.

Sadly, Australia's record I am ashamed to say is not good in this area.

We have imprisoned many innocent people over the years and treated people in a very poor manner.

Hope she sues and hope she receives a large payout beyond that which she has already received. $1000 per day for each day of incarceration does seem a bit light. How about $10,000 for each day = $50,000......that would be more like it.

I wonder if this case will be seen on TV's Boarder Protection?.....hhaaaaaa not!

Originally Posted by wayne78

If the person was arrested or otherwise "detained", Australian Customs would need a lawful reason to detain this person. If the reason was not lawful, the matter could be put before a judge by way of legal action by the person detained, seeking compensation for deprivation of liberty if not other things.

Not sure about Australian law Wayne, but in the UK Polce/customs officers can arrest/detain someone on 'suspicion' of commiting an offence.
In this case the dog senses indicated that drugs may be present within the package. I therefore suspect that the officers were within the law to detain the person until tests proved otherwise. Unfortunately those tests provided positive results on 3 occasions so the person was lawfully charged.

[/quote]Not sure about Australian law Wayne, but in the UK Polce/customs officers can arrest/detain someone on 'suspicion' of commiting an offence.
In this case the dog senses indicated that drugs may be present within the package. I therefore suspect that the officers were within the law to detain the person until tests proved otherwise. Unfortunately those tests provided positive results on 3 occasions so the person was lawfully charged.[/quote]

Don’t know if she was ever charged, but was certainly detained. Any arrest or detention needs to be lawful. In this case it may have been however I think you would agree that this case does at least shows up the inadequacy of the law and just how easy it may be for the hapless and/or innocent person to be put in jail for something they have not done.

But then again, many people are put in jail every day and are subsequently found not guilty in a court.

I guess you may call that justice. If I had my liberty taken away because I was carrying tea in my luggage, I would be spitting chips I can tell you and would certainly seek legal advice as to further possible legal action.

Not sure about Australian law Wayne, but in the UK Polce/customs officers can arrest/detain someone on 'suspicion' of commiting an offence.
In this case the dog senses indicated that drugs may be present within the package. I therefore suspect that the officers were within the law to detain the person until tests proved otherwise. Unfortunately those tests provided positive results on 3 occasions so the person was lawfully charged.[/quote]

Don’t know if she was ever charged, but was certainly detained. Any arrest or detention needs to be lawful. In this case it may have been however I think you would agree that this case does at least shows up the inadequacy of the law and just how easy it may be for the hapless and/or innocent person to be put in jail for something they have not done.

But then again, many people are put in jail every day and are subsequently found not guilty in a court.

I guess you may call that justice. If I had my liberty taken away because I was carrying tea in my luggage, I would be spitting chips I can tell you and would certainly seek legal advice as to further possible legal action.[/quote]





I believe anyone who hasn't knowingly commited an offence would probably feel the same about being detained, including myself.
The lady has been the victim of the judicial system mainly because it would seem the initial test results were flawed. I sympathise with her and hope that she can get over the experience quite soon. I am not sure if any travel insurance would cover such an event but some sort of inconvenience/personal suffering payment i'm sure would be appreciated.

I have never trusted those swabs, we [the missus and another couple] did a cruise out through the pacific islands, so every time you disembarked you had to clear customs, the other couple borrowed a bag of my wifes, when the returned to the ship after a port call they were detained, it appeared that on swabbing the bag it came up positive for cocaine..they were horrified, and we were also dragged through this bloody nightmare, our companions were starting to doubt our honesty as well, after quite a few hours of tooing and froing, the customs realised that the swabs were out of date, so it appeared we were not the nasty bloody smugglers they thought they had caught..as if standing there in a bloody towel beach hat and zinc cream, funny on hindsight but not at the time

Why in hell would the boyfriend ask his foreign girlfriend to bring any foodstuffs into Australia in the first place amazes me.

He should of known that the Australian customs comes down on those with any food product when it is not declared on arrival. Hefty fines, even incarceration is awaiting those that try to break the law and by smuggling even iced tea powder into the country.

Whilst the mistake and imprisonment seems outrageous she was breaking the law in the first place and should of known that when she stepped off the plane and onto Australian soil.

Nestea is readily available in Australia, so it's quite understandable that it would raise a BIG red flag when someone chooses to bring kilos of the stuff in from overseas.

No doubt her "iced tea" was probably a dry run to see if she could get away with the good stuff on the next trip. Still, at least she got a refund on her ticket, and she'll tell her suppliers back home that they wouldn't get the stuff through.

Job done, and her name is now permanently on the watch list.

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

she was breaking the law in the first place

I must have missed the bit where she didn't declare it , and in my experience the dogs do their work before you get to hand over your declaration .

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

No doubt

indeed , thankfully we still have the benefit of the doubt and you really haven't got anything .

Originally Posted by Mid

I must have missed the bit where she didn't declare it

If you want to become a world traveler learn the rules of each country you intend to go to or stay at home.

I have not read the Oz landing card of late but I understand it is clearly written no food stuffs is allowed into the country without it being checked by customs officers. I also understand there are warnings on visa application documents stating the same.

Plus the fact there are many disposal bins and warning signs leading from the gate until immigration warning you about what will happen if you reach customs before declaring foodstuffs.

Customs are more concerned with raw or non-processed foods that could harbour germs and other living organisms, like salami and other meats, fruits and the like.

But yes, you should declare everything you have with you

once again where did it state that she had not declared it ?

Never said she didn't, was just replying to LT's comment

indeed , my question is also directed to LT

Originally Posted by panama hat

But yes, you should declare everything you have with you

Absolutely. I've waited ages behind idiots with packets of herbs, sauces, spices, soups, sausages and stuff, that they'd not declared.

Yes, it say very clearly on the bits of paper you have to fill in.

DECLARE EVERYTHING.

You do get the classic stuff ups though.

It wasn't long ago, if memory serves that a Qantas flight gave out lovely fresh red apples to passengers, shortly before landing. Many passengers just slipped them into their bags and disembarked. They all got busted!

Some model or actress type was most upset.

Golden rule if flying into Aus.

Take nothing. You will get done.

Originally Posted by graym

Originally Posted by jandajoy

Golden rule if flying into Aus. Take nothing. You will get done.

Agree with that. I had (almost) nothing going through Perth recently and was treated to 2 and a half hours at custom and excises pleasure. "Have you any porn?" they said; "I work offshore" was my reply - That was it, every conceivable piece of memory hardware was given the Nth degree, even the camera card and flash pens.Meanwhile the decidedly non prescription long haul flight tablets nestling in my wash bag were studiously ignored. I also had to listen whilst the jumped up little brown shirt lectured me on the the perils of child pornography and bestiality - thank fcuk I only had my necrophiliac stuff...

There have been some "busts" of late at PerthAirport regarding people bringing into the country child porn. Customs are obviously on to this as they should. Unfortunately, the nature of the spread of this stuff is not confined to those who physically bring it into a country. That said, the "brown shirts" as you refer to them do behave in a manner that is akin to SS Storm troopers and they genuinely believe they are doing a good job.

My point is that they do a very poor job as they "nick" the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all things that are prohibited from the country.

In regard to this tea issue, I have not read anywhere where she did not declare the item although she may not have, and in any event a person would not be locked up for 6 days for failure to declare this item. She was locked up because they {Customs} believed she was a drug smuggler, although it would appear they got it wrong big time and as a consequence, an innocent person was deprived of her liberty for 6 days.

3rd world. What can one say?