Australian Border Force employee allegedly received bribe to waive 7kg of cocaine into the country

An Australian Border Force employee has been accused of receiving a bribe to let through nearly 7kg of cocaine into the country.

Australian Federal Police allege a 67-year-old Sydney man believed to have links to organised crime “conspired” with an Australian Border Force (ABF) employee to ensure a 6.9kg parcel of cocaine would bypass examination by the ABF.

The 50-year-old ABF official, who worked as a supervisor, allegedly received cash and high-value items as a bribe to allow the parcel into the country and gave information about a dummy-run of cosmetics from Malaysia that arrived in Australia on February 21.

Police say the employee’s role with the ABF allowed her to search cargo and systems to decide if parcels needed to be flagged for examination.

She was charged with receive a bribe of a Commonwealth public official, abuse of public office, unauthorised disclosure of information by current or former Commonwealth officers etc, and aid, abet, counsel or procure the importation of a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs.

The maximum penalty for the final charge is life imprisonment.

The 67-year-old man was charged with bribe a Commonwealth public official, aid, abet, counsel or procure the importation of a commercial quantity of border controller drugs, and communicating and dealing with information by non-Commonwealth officers etc.

Two men, aged 25 and 48, were also charged with attempt to possess a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs under the NSW Police Multi Agency Strike Team (MAST), which worked alongside the AFP in the major bust.

All four people were refused bail and are set to front court on Wednesday.

AFP Deputy Commissioner of Crime Ian McCartney said MAST was launched in November to target employees who seemed to be law-abiding Australians but were instead “operating in the shadows of organised crime”.

“We used to call these alleged offenders trusted insiders – however, they are really acting like double dealers by working both sides,” Commissioner McCartney said.

“It becomes a national security risk when supply chains are corrupted.

“Equally, we know organised crime can be successful in corrupting public officials.”

He said MAST is designed to “help keep Australians safe”, and included identifying and disrupting offshore crime gangs.

“We see the carnage and grief caused by illicit drugs and those who traffic them – innocent people are caught in the crosshairs, violence spills into suburbs, our road toll increases, and the risk increases for our first responders, including healthcare workers,” he said.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said those who allegedly enabled drug smuggling and organised crime were “criminals in every sense of the word”.

“MAST is here to ensure these enablers are held accountable,” he said.