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00:10Tonight on Border Security, a passengers empty bag is full of surprises.
00:19As you can see, it's got concealments in it.
00:22A young American finds out the hard way that you never really know someone.
00:28I just can't believe this is even happening.
00:30This person has obviously gone to extreme lengths.
00:34And a box of noodles with a very expensive price tag.
00:38The value of this could possibly be about $100,000.
00:59In Sydney, a flight from Lebanon has just arrived.
01:03And one passenger in particular has caught the eye of Customs and Border Protection.
01:09She's an Aussie citizen.
01:11I think she's just been over there for a holiday.
01:13She's telling us that someone else packed the bags for her.
01:15So at this stage, we just continue the bag and continue our questioning and work out some more information from
01:21there.
01:22She says she was in Lebanon to visit her brother and that he was the one who packed her bags.
01:28Has your brother, has he ever lived in Australia before?
01:31No.
01:34He has family in Lebanon?
01:35No.
01:36Yeah.
01:37As the officer searches one of the passenger's bags, she discovers something suspicious wrapped in clothing.
01:44Do you know?
01:44It's present.
01:45It's present?
01:46Yeah.
01:46Okay.
01:47The woman claims the items belong to her brother.
01:50And where did your brother get this from?
01:53I don't know.
01:54You don't know?
01:54I think so.
01:56You think?
01:56Tripoli.
01:57In Tripoli.
01:58Okay.
01:59And we don't have any more.
02:03No problem.
02:04No problem.
02:05No problem.
02:06Let's move this over here, okay?
02:11This one is not allowed.
02:14I'm asking the brother.
02:15You asked your brother?
02:16Yeah.
02:17It's a problem or no?
02:18It's a problem.
02:19Yeah?
02:20Yeah, it's a problem.
02:21Oh my goodness.
02:22Are you serious?
02:23Yeah.
02:33An American passenger has arrived on a tourist visa.
02:37But he has indicated that he has a criminal record.
02:41Hi Guy, my name is Maggie.
02:43Immigration will need to establish if his visa should be cancelled.
02:47Why have you come to Australia today?
02:49Uh, vacation.
02:50Are you travelling with anyone else today?
02:52Yes, yes.
02:53Holly, H-O-L-L-Y.
02:56And she's a US citizen?
02:58Holly has already cleared immigration and is waiting for him in the terminal.
03:03I don't really know what's going on.
03:05I don't really know what's going on.
03:06So, first time I've travelled with him, he's never had this problem before.
03:09So, I'm a little confused.
03:11But before the pair can be reunited, Officer Maggie needs to get some more answers.
03:17Okay, now we're getting into the very serious part of this interview.
03:21Okay.
03:22And it's about your criminal record.
03:24Okay.
03:24Okay?
03:25All right.
03:25You claim that in the USA, 1993, you were charged with common nuisance.
03:34Yes.
03:34The actual sentence that was handed down was one year.
03:39Yes.
03:39And this is related to drugs, is that correct?
03:42Yeah.
03:42Okay.
03:43So, were you in possession of drugs?
03:44No.
03:45It was, there was, there was possession, there was drugs found in the house.
03:48There was drugs in the house.
03:49Because there was one, so they're loaded in cocaine, but because everybody was in the
03:54house, everybody got locked up.
03:56Nobody, see nobody claimed to it, so everybody got charged with it.
04:00So everybody that was in the house got charged with possession of drugs.
04:05Yes.
04:06And how much cocaine are we talking about here?
04:08It was just like one little.
04:10One little what?
04:11It was like a vial.
04:12A vial?
04:12Yeah.
04:13A drug conviction could be a reason to cancel his visa.
04:18And Officer Maggie has noticed this is not his only offence.
04:31Travellers arriving through Australia's international airports are given plenty of opportunities to
04:37declare their food to quarantine.
04:39What's this one for?
04:41A large amount of undeclared food has been discovered in the bags of a passenger arriving
04:47from Vietnam.
04:48What was your wife intending to do with this?
04:51She cooked her favourite food.
04:53And you told her plenty of times not to bring it and she still brought it.
04:57The passenger told officers his wife packed the bags and that he had no idea they contained
05:03food.
05:04But now there seems to be some confusion.
05:07You admitted to me before that you did know about these foods.
05:13I explained you before that because I told you this shape.
05:18Yeah.
05:19I think about, you know, homemade food, dry or something like that.
05:23Well that was the issue.
05:24When I asked you at the start of the inspection why you didn't declare any food, you said I
05:29didn't know about it.
05:30My wife packed this.
05:32Okay.
05:33And then afterwards you told me that the reason why you didn't declare this, because you filled
05:37out your wife's card, is because you didn't think that you needed to.
05:40Because you didn't know if it was cooked or unpreserved.
05:44Which is telling me that you knew that you had food in the bag.
05:48Do you understand what I'm saying?
05:49Yeah, yeah.
05:50So why didn't she declare the goods?
05:54Because I'm not too sure that she bring it or not.
05:57These things, you know.
05:58I told her before that Luke did not bring it over there.
06:02So it takes time.
06:03But I don't know, now I see it here.
06:05I just told her that why you put it here.
06:06So you told her that was no good not to bring it?
06:08Yeah.
06:09And you're still broader.
06:19In Sydney, an officer has just found a handful of small packages that are individually wrapped
06:26in carbon paper.
06:27The passenger says her brother packed them for her in Lebanon to give to a friend in Australia.
06:33So, this man is going to come to your house and collect this from you?
06:38Okay.
06:38Will he give you money?
06:40None.
06:40None.
06:41Okay.
06:42You didn't think it was a problem to bring?
06:44You trust your brother?
06:46No, no.
06:46I'm going to Lebanon for 10 years, but I'm going to...
06:50So now, I check the rest of your bags and we talk more, okay?
06:58You want to stay here, do you know?
07:00I don't know.
07:01Look at this.
07:02The bag is emptied of its contents, but the officer's experience tells her something's
07:08not right.
07:09It's very heavy.
07:11Yes.
07:25What is this?
07:26What do you see?
07:27I don't know, what's this?
07:29I don't know.
07:29What's this?
07:30I don't know.
07:30What is it?
07:30I don't know.
07:30I don't know.
07:31Yeah, the same, the same.
07:34Oh my goodness.
07:45At Sydney's Mail Centre, a large parcel has arrived from Indonesia.
07:50And after viewing the x-ray, Officer Nadia considers it may need to be opened and inspected.
07:56They've declared it as a snack, and on our image you can see that it could possibly be noodles.
08:04These little green things are the seasoning sachets.
08:09It all looks organic.
08:11Coming from Indonesia, we need to have a look at it.
08:14Noodles are generally allowed into the country.
08:17But still, Nadia must inspect the contents of the package to make sure there are no high-risk items inside.
08:25Yeah, it does look like noodles.
08:27All these are allowed.
08:29Chocolate, biscuits, commercially packaged peanuts, roasted.
08:33They're fine.
08:34Yeah.
08:35Yeah, these are okay too.
08:39I'm just a bit curious about these noodles.
08:42They don't actually feel like noodles.
08:44But just feeling these, it just feels awfully soft that I can squeeze it,
08:49which is very unusual for noodles to come in that kind of form.
08:52They all seem to have the same consistency.
08:55So, I will have to open one up just to have a look.
08:59I may be wrong, but I suspect that something could possibly be concealed or something doesn't feel right.
09:17Quarantine is still discovering undeclared and prohibited food in this passenger's bags.
09:25Why is it taking me to keep on asking you this?
09:28Why didn't she tell me directly from the beginning,
09:31especially after I found it after not being honest with me the first time?
09:35I asked her, she said she did not remember where and what kind of food she brought with her.
09:42You need to be aware of the contents that are inside your bag.
09:47Do you understand what I'm saying?
09:48I understand.
09:50I thought the other person who made the food, not something like this.
09:54And I put in, no, no.
09:57Well, he sort of admitted to me that he told his wife not to bring the plant material over.
10:02Whether or not there's a bit of a lack of communication between hubby and wife,
10:06another story, we don't know.
10:07Officer Rob is convinced the passenger is in clear breach of quarantine law.
10:13What I'm trying to say is because you failed to declare these items to quarantine,
10:17you will be receiving a quarantine infringement notice of $220.
10:22The passenger reluctantly paid the $220 fine and the family is free to go.
10:40A false bottom has been discovered in this passenger's bag
10:45and was found to contain thousands of small objects wrapped in carbon paper.
10:51Oh, my goodness.
10:53Your brother asked you to bring this?
10:56Yeah.
10:59Always.
11:02He always asked you.
11:04You bring before?
11:06No, no.
11:07First time.
11:08You first time in?
11:11You don't want to sit?
11:13You want a chair, anything?
11:16I'm upset.
11:17All of this.
11:20Supervising officer Mary arrives to assist with the investigation.
11:25I'm coming out of the bag.
11:31What's under there?
11:32No.
11:35The first time I'm not this, I don't know.
11:38Her brother asked her to bring it.
11:43It's a little vials.
11:46Steroids.
11:57All right, let's continue on to the next charge for possession.
12:02Possession of cocaine.
12:03Of cocaine.
12:04A US passenger has arrived to holiday with a friend, but immigration needs to decide whether
12:10his criminal convictions are grounds to cancel his visa.
12:14Me and a friend of mine have bought some drugs, and we were coming back, and we got pulled over.
12:19We went to court.
12:20While you threw most of the stuff out, we still got probation, probation for a judgment, three years.
12:25Okay.
12:26So how long did you spend in prison for that?
12:30I didn't spend any time in jail at all.
12:33Don't you realize I've only got your word for this?
12:36I'm telling the truth.
12:37I mean, I can tell half-truths, but I'm trying to be honest if I possibly can.
12:41I'm on vacation.
12:42I pay money.
12:42I would like to see what I pay for.
12:45I don't understand.
12:45I understand the desperation that you want to come into Australia, but these are quite
12:49serious offenses.
12:51I've seen one-year probation before, but I've never seen three years.
12:56So I find that a bit difficult to understand what you're saying there.
13:01Out in the arrivals hall, Holly is just as desperate as her friend to start their holiday.
13:07It's my 25th birthday today, and I'm still stuck here.
13:11So I'm just going to hang out and wait and see what happens.
13:31In Immigration, Officer Maggie is discussing with her manager the details of an American
13:38passenger who has a serious criminal record.
13:41I got sentenced 12 months in 1993.
13:44Then he was charged with possession of cocaine, and he's claiming that he got three years probation.
13:51He's claiming that he didn't go to prison, but I don't believe him.
13:55I'm not going to lie.
13:56I'm not going to say I was convicted for something and just lie about it and just change around.
14:00We might as well just go and tell the whole truth.
14:02Out in the arrivals hall, Holly is unaware of Guy's criminal history, or that he may be
14:08prevented from joining her on their holiday.
14:11If you had a sentence imposed of more than 12 months, and you've got one year, three years, and three
14:17years.
14:18So you actually are in breach of that condition for entry into Australia today, okay?
14:25The decision has been made to serve you a notice of intention to consider cancellation of your visa.
14:31The passenger still has one more chance to convince immigration that he should be allowed to cross the border.
14:38What happens is I leave the room for 10 minutes, and if you wish to comment, you can.
14:53These noodles have come from Indonesia, so I'm a bit concerned the consistency isn't right.
14:58So I am going to open one up to have a look.
15:00In Sydney's mail centre, Officer Nadia suspects a box full of products labelled as noodles are not as they appear.
15:09No, they're definitely not noodles.
15:14And I was right about the seasoning sachets.
15:18They are in there.
15:19So this person has obviously gone to extreme lengths to make these noodles look as if they're commercially done.
15:27They've actually gone to reseal it, to look as if there was no interference with the original packaging.
15:34And this is what they call bird's nest, which is swallow saliva.
15:40And it's very, very expensive.
15:43And a lot of Asians use it for medicinal purposes.
15:48Bird's nest is a very rare product, and it's worth a lot of money.
15:52But it's also prohibited.
15:54This is a very high risk, especially in the form it's in.
15:59It doesn't look as if it's been commercially done.
16:02But this product can introduce avian diseases such as Newcastle disease and avian influenza.
16:10And there's about 8 kilos here, so the value of this could possibly be about $100,000.
16:16Obviously, this is a large consignment worth a lot of money.
16:20This consignment, I refer it to my supervisor.
16:24After then, I'll have to let the compliance and investigation unit know,
16:28and they'll do further investigation into this matter.
16:50Officers have discovered a concealment in the bag of a woman who has arrived back from Lebanon.
16:56It's a little vials.
17:00Steroids.
17:02How many do you have?
17:03I don't know.
17:04Just can look for me.
17:08She's still out.
17:09I don't know.
17:09It's going to have to go in the room.
17:11I haven't done my other bag yet.
17:14What about the other bag that you're carrying there?
17:16What?
17:17The bag.
17:17The other second bag.
17:19What's that?
17:19That bag.
17:20Is it the same as this one?
17:21No, no.
17:22Does it have the same steroids in there as well?
17:24I don't know.
17:27Just leave it, leave it.
17:30Ma'am, just leave it, just leave it.
17:33All right.
17:33What you're going to have to do is I will just take a shrink to the room.
17:37Yep.
17:37Finish your bag.
17:38She's in.
17:38Do your caution.
17:39Give her her rights.
17:42Then do the rest of the bag so we can work out exactly what's there.
17:46What I will do now, I pack up and we go into a room, okay?
17:51And we talk in private, okay?
17:55She speak Arabic, yeah?
17:57No problem.
17:59Officers have decided to continue the investigation in an interview room.
18:04The passenger at this stage is saying she's unaware if there are any other wells in the other
18:08bag, but I think there could be more in the other bag.
18:24At Sydney Immigration, a passenger from the United States is making a last-ditch plea to be allowed
18:32to cross the border.
18:33You know, I've done what I've done.
18:36I've paid for what I've done, but right now I'm still paying for it.
18:41Like I said, I've been honest and that's it.
18:46All right, well, I'll take these comments on board.
18:49In the arrivals hall, Holly is still waiting for her friend.
18:54I'm just really concerned.
18:55I don't understand what's going on.
18:56I don't know if he's just sitting there waiting or I don't know what's going on.
19:00So, I hope it's nothing serious.
19:04I hope we can come out soon so we can get on to our trip.
19:07For Holly and Guy, the wait is about to be over.
19:11Decision has been made today, Guy, that as from 12 o'clock this afternoon, your visa was
19:17actually cancelled.
19:19In weighing up the grounds for cancellation, I find the reasons to cancel clients' visa outweigh
19:25the reasons not to cancel.
19:27As you are no longer the holder of a visa, you have been refused immigration clearance
19:32and will be removed from Australia as an unlawful non-citizen.
19:40Well, it was mainly to do with his conviction and his charges.
19:44We take drug offences very, very serious.
19:47That's all I can say.
19:50Made the decision to change everything, but yet it still comes back around to haunt you.
19:56Hello, is Holly, is it?
19:58Hi, my name's Maggie.
20:00Unfortunately, I haven't got good news.
20:02He won't be immigration cleared today at our borders.
20:06He's been returned to the U.S.
20:08What?
20:09Yeah.
20:10But he wanted me to convey to you that to enjoy your holiday.
20:15I just can't believe this is even happening.
20:17I don't know what to do.
20:20You've come all this way.
20:21You should enjoy a holiday.
20:47This woman is being taken into an interview room
20:50after officers discovered thousands of steroid vials concealed in her bag.
20:55We're just taking her to the room, just a bit of privacy,
20:59just so we can continue the rest of the baggage exam.
21:01As you saw, one bag had a false bottom and it's completely covered of steroids.
21:06We don't know how much is there.
21:07It could be a thousand, it could be two, it could be three.
21:09Who knows?
21:09So we just want to take her away, put her in the room,
21:12do the rest of the baggage exam and just take it from there.
21:14Officers will now x-ray the items from the passengers' second bag.
21:21Yeah, there seems to be a concealment in the shampoo.
21:25As you can see, it looks like little vials just over here.
21:29We're still looking through her bag, so there might be more.
21:32And the more items officers x-ray...
21:35Yeah, it's quite heavy.
21:36..the more they find.
21:39As you can see, it's got concealment in it too.
21:42As you can see, it's all there.
21:46In the interview room, the passenger continues to deny any responsibility
21:51of this attempted illegal importation.
21:54It's a huge, huge loss.
21:56Our investigations unit came over
21:58and subsequently are going to charge her with the importation.
22:05The woman was carrying 2,205 vials of testosterone.
22:12She was found guilty of importing prohibited imports
22:16and for making a false, misleading statement.
22:25Next week on Border Security.
22:28Officers think this laptop hides evidence of a massive scam.
22:32Just ask if there's anything in it.
22:34But the passenger claims he's innocent.
22:36But it's your laptop.
22:38You told me before it's your laptop.
22:42That's Border Security.