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00:10Since 9-11 things have changed and it's no surprise that Customs and Border Protection
00:14and Immigration Officers need to find out if people really are who they say they are.
00:19So how do they do it?
00:20Who's lying and who's not?
00:21Is it in the eyes, their body language or what they'll find in their bags?
00:25We'll show you on tonight's brand new border security, Australia's Frontline.
00:30You don't have anything on you that you shouldn't?
00:32What's the real reason this woman travelled to Vietnam?
00:36A persistent caller may have the answer.
00:39Okay, what do you have?
00:40The people dating me now.
00:42Okay.
00:42I don't know.
00:43Since I can't cure my disease, that's a thing, it's spread everywhere.
00:47Quarantine needs to know exactly what this man is carrying.
00:51The problem we have, we don't know what's inside there.
00:54I'm on my phone.
00:55And some explosive allegations could send this passenger home.
00:59If this is correct, this is a serious consent to us.
01:23Customs and Border Protection officers are trained to spot passengers who may have something
01:29to hide.
01:30Nervous behaviour, suspicious travel movements or even unusual travel reasons can be caused
01:36for officers to pull someone aside for further questioning.
01:40Coming from Vietnam?
01:42Yeah.
01:42How long were you there for?
01:43One week.
01:44I fixed my teeth.
01:45Your teeth?
01:46Give me a look.
01:48Oh, beautiful.
01:49Cheaper to go there?
01:50Oh, yeah.
01:51Than here?
01:51Okay.
01:51At Sydney Airport, officers need to establish if this lady's trip was just for cosmetic dental
01:58treatment.
01:59You been to Vietnam before?
02:00Yeah.
02:01Okay.
02:01How many times?
02:02One time.
02:03Only once?
02:04Yeah.
02:05Okay.
02:06When was the last time that you went?
02:08Seven months ago, eight months ago.
02:10And what was that purpose for?
02:11I go to check-up.
02:13And the time before that?
02:14No.
02:16Not for this.
02:17So you've been to Vietnam more than twice?
02:20Yeah.
02:21Okay.
02:21You said twice before.
02:22You said only two times.
02:24It's a long time ago.
02:25How many times have you been?
02:28Two.
02:28Two times.
02:29Three times.
02:30Three times?
02:31Okay.
02:31You said twice before.
02:34Oh, you forgot.
02:35How many times have you been?
02:37Twice.
02:38So you've been to Vietnam twice.
02:41So if we did more checks, we'd only see that you've been to Vietnam twice.
02:48I can't because when I come to plan my head is...
02:52Okay.
02:58In immigration, this Latvian passenger claims to be here for a holiday.
03:03However, there are concerns he may have a criminal background and documents found in
03:08his luggage could indicate that he plans to work here illegally.
03:12This is information from the Yellow Pages about companies in Australia that deal with
03:16demolition.
03:17That's what he's carrying.
03:18And excavation.
03:18He also has with him National Demolition Training Group.
03:21And this is a certificate that he completed there.
03:24So it is one of his occupations.
03:26Immigration will now interview the man so that a decision can be made if he will be allowed
03:31to enter the country.
03:33Mr. Zex, can you tell me why you have come to Australia?
03:37For holiday?
03:39Do you have any plans, like you intend to stay for two months?
03:43Other plans, I didn't decide actually like every day what I will do every day.
03:49When I come over here, I will find out.
03:52Have you come straight from Latvia?
03:53No.
03:54From Heathrow.
03:55Okay.
03:56I live in Scotland.
03:57What is your occupation?
03:58I am demolition operative.
04:02When you work for a company?
04:04Yeah.
04:05Do you intend to find some work here in demolition or any work you do?
04:11No.
04:11The documents you are carrying with you, you have done this research of all the Australian
04:17companies who are involved in demolition.
04:21Yeah.
04:21Is that right?
04:22Yeah.
04:22Have you contacted any of them before coming to Australia?
04:26No.
04:26No.
04:26No.
04:27The concern I have is that you seem to be more prepared in looking for work here than compared
04:36to sightseeing here.
04:38I come over here to see how it's life here, you know.
04:41But I am on my holidays.
04:44I am on my holidays for two months.
04:56In Melbourne quarantine, officers have been alerted to an inconsistency between what this
05:02passenger has declared and what may actually be inside his bag.
05:07This guy has failed to declare his goods.
05:09He's obviously got a fair bit of organic matter in here.
05:12Is this your card?
05:14Yeah.
05:15Yeah?
05:15Did you read all of these?
05:17I can read but I can listen to some words.
05:19Okay.
05:20Have you travelled to Australia before?
05:21Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:22How long have you been in Australia?
05:23One and a half years or two years.
05:25Okay.
05:25So what does that say there?
05:29Food.
05:29Any food?
05:30Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:30Alright, we need you to open up all your bags.
05:35Okay.
05:38Milk toffees.
05:40They're toffees?
05:41Yeah.
05:41Made from milk powder?
05:43I think milk and...
05:45I don't know.
05:47A number of cans are also found.
05:51Alright, we're going to have to open all your tins.
05:53Yeah, you can.
05:53There is no label.
05:55Yeah, yeah.
05:55Alrighty.
05:56Travellers often arrive with tins filled with their homemade food.
06:03But this is also a common method to try and conceal prohibited goods.
06:15Officers at Sydney Airport suspect this passenger has been to Vietnam more times than she is admitting
06:21to.
06:22How many times have you been to Vietnam?
06:25Four times.
06:26Four times.
06:27So it wasn't twice.
06:27If she's made a false declaration about the number of trips, Officer Mike needs to find
06:33out why.
06:34Who paid for your trip today?
06:36Who paid?
06:37Yeah, who paid for the airline and the dentist work?
06:40You paid?
06:40Oh, yeah.
06:41Okay.
06:41So where did you get the money?
06:43From working?
06:43Yeah, yeah.
06:44But you don't make that much money?
06:46Well, I collected the money for a long time.
06:48Okay.
06:49The occupation?
06:49Cooking?
06:50Yeah.
06:51Okay.
06:52How much money?
06:54Four thousand.
06:56Four thousand?
06:57Where did you get this money from?
06:59From my work?
07:02You can't answer that, ma'am.
07:04Just let that...
07:04I close it?
07:04Yes.
07:05Okay.
07:21Is that Aussie number?
07:23Yeah.
07:29Dan!
07:32God tells me there's something wrong.
07:34Is she nervous?
07:34She's standing really close to the barrier.
07:36Yeah, yeah.
07:36She's a little nervous.
07:39I just did the personal items.
07:40I'll do the bag now and then see what happens.
07:44So besides getting your dentures done, you didn't do anything else in Vietnam?
07:50No.
07:51Nobody's asked you to carry anything for them?
07:52No, no, no.
07:53You don't have anything on you that you shouldn't?
07:55No.
07:56No, no, no.
07:58No, no, no, no.
08:01No, no, no, no.
08:04What?
08:04At Sydney Airport, officers are talking to a woman who has just returned from a trip to
08:10Vietnam.
08:10She said she's gone over there for her dentures done because it's cheaper over there.
08:16She said she'd been there seven months earlier for more dentist work as well.
08:21Under heavier questioning, she said she'd been there more than two times.
08:25She said maybe three or four.
08:27I'm not too sure how many times, but it was more than twice.
08:30Officers have also discovered she is carrying a large amount of cash,
08:34and the decision is now made to go to the next step.
08:37What we're going to do, what I'm going to do now,
08:40is I'm just going to detain you for a frisk search, just a pat-down frisk search.
08:43What do you mean?
08:44Well, one of the officers will just pat you down, say you must have anything on your body.
08:47Yeah, yeah.
08:48I need you to read both sides of this card.
08:55Everything okay?
08:56Yeah.
08:56You understand the card?
08:58Okay, well, this officer here will be doing the frisk search.
09:04Are you happy to do it?
09:05Yeah, yeah.
09:06Okay.
09:06So if you can just come into the middle here and just stand the way that I'm standing, okay?
09:26You have done a lot of research on finding Australian companies.
09:30Do you want to work here?
09:32No, I don't.
09:33I like to find out what procedures for that, because me and my wife are thinking about moving
09:41to another country.
09:42Immigration officers are concerned this man may have come to Australia to work illegally
09:47as a demolitions expert.
09:49Say, for example, you're going to contact one of them, and they'll say,
09:51yeah, we've got a job.
09:52They'll say, start tomorrow.
09:54No, I can't start tomorrow, because I'm on my holidays, and all my life is in Scotland.
10:02Since you have come to Australia, have you asked for a leave or for a holiday from the
10:08company?
10:08Yeah.
10:09I can't get holidays for three months, yeah, because I had injury, yes?
10:14Toes.
10:15Toes was broken.
10:17And you still have the job?
10:19Yeah, I still have the job, exactly.
10:21Okay, Mr. Zax, I need to check with my supervisor and discuss with him and see what other information
10:30we need.
10:31So, just give us a few minutes.
10:33Meanwhile, Officer Tracy has been researching his background.
10:37There's a newspaper article regarding a Latvian driver who drove while disqualified, was not
10:44covered by insurance, and it also mentions that he was jailed for 80 days.
10:48So, if this is correct, and this term of imprisonment relates to the passenger who we're speaking
10:54to at the moment, this is a serious concern to us.
10:57He has criminal convictions he hasn't declared, and people with criminal convictions do need
11:01to declare them, and we can assess them.
11:10It's all fish.
11:11In Melbourne quarantine, a number of cans that were found in the bags of this passenger have
11:17been opened for inspection.
11:19This one just appears to be just dried fish.
11:22Alrighty.
11:24The food is undeclared, but it may not be the only item of concern.
11:29Now, with these, are you able to tell me...
11:32Are you reading medicine?
11:33So, these are herbs that are in these?
11:37I've got psoriasis.
11:39You know psoriasis?
11:40Yeah.
11:40So, it can't cure, you know, permanently, but from this medicine, I can cure permanently.
11:46Psoriasis can be a debilitating skin condition, and he's convinced it can only be cured by
11:52the traditional medicines.
11:54Ingredients from the jungle.
11:56Yeah.
11:57Which...
11:58We can't release it.
11:59We can hold it in quarantine.
12:01We can hold it in quarantine.
12:03Herbal medicine, because officers cannot identify the ingredients.
12:08Without this medicine, I can't cure my disease.
12:10That's the thing.
12:11It's spread everywhere, you know?
12:15The problem we have, we don't know what's inside there.
12:18It's not in English, sir.
12:20We don't...
12:20We can't tell...
12:21That's how she wrote it.
12:22But this doesn't actually tell us what's inside.
12:24It just tells us that it's herbal medicine.
12:27It is hard to take people's goods off people, especially when they need it, and it's so important
12:33to them, and they need it to cure illness.
12:35But that's my job.
12:38My job is to think of a greater risk.
12:39So today, I'm going to issue him with a $220 fine with phalanceded aquaries good, and bring
12:45prohibited goods into the country.
12:47And you have failed to declare your traditional medicines, your food products, and your dairy
12:53sweets.
12:54Your dairy sweets are a high risk to the country, as they can contain foot and mouth disease
12:59coming from Sri Lanka.
13:00Okay?
13:01And must be declared.
13:03So today, you're being fined $220 for that.
13:06Your options...
13:06$220?
13:07There were three different things you could have declared, and you didn't declare any
13:11of them.
13:35The officer conducting the frisk suspects something is not quite right with the woman.
13:41shoes.
13:42Okay, no problems?
13:43No problems?
13:45Okay.
13:45I don't know.
13:46I was trying to feel it's possible, maybe, that there's something in her shoes.
13:50A really, really padded dick, you know?
13:55Anything in your shoes at all, ma'am?
13:57Nothing?
13:58Okay, do you want to show us?
14:00It's up to you.
14:01Do you want to show us?
14:03I'll show you, but I'll be honest with you.
14:06Yeah.
14:09Do you have something in your shoes?
14:16He has come here to sightseeing, slash, look for opportunities to work.
14:23In Sydney Immigration, officers are discussing whether this passenger intends to work.
14:29But that's not their only concern.
14:31I've also spoken to his wife, who has confirmed that in February of this year, she said he
14:37was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, and he only served one month.
14:41The other one is two years ago.
14:42That's 80 days.
14:43If the passenger has not declared his criminal convictions on the incoming passenger card,
14:49it may be grounds to cancel his visa.
14:51Can you read this part again and tell me that you have understood all these, and you
14:56have answered correctly?
14:58Do you have any criminal convictions?
15:00No.
15:01So you understood correctly?
15:02Yeah.
15:03We got the information that you have six criminal convictions.
15:07I thought driving a fence, it's not so serious, you know?
15:10Well, you spent two months in prison, it's not serious?
15:14It's serious, actually.
15:16It's serious.
15:17Officer Tracy is also trying to verify the passenger's story by calling his boss in Scotland.
15:24It has not been possible to connect your call.
15:27Please try again later.
15:29So, so far, having a bit of trouble confirming this information.
15:33Maybe another call to his wife could be more helpful.
15:38Sonia, it's Tracy calling from Immigration again.
15:41Yeah, hello.
15:42Sonia, I'm just a little bit concerned.
15:44Did your husband suffer an injury at work?
15:47Yeah, she had some problem with his back.
15:50With his back?
15:52Okay, that's not what he's telling me here.
15:55Maybe she had something else.
15:57You know, Sonia, it's very hard when the information you're giving me,
16:01and the information your husband's giving me, is not consistent.
16:05With Immigration unable to verify his story, they have no other option.
16:11It has come to our attention that there are grounds for cancellation of your visa.
16:16We are only presenting him with grounds at the moment, which are our concerns,
16:20that may not necessarily lead to his visa being cancelled.
16:23So, at this stage, it's a decision that's still being made.
16:38This passenger has received a fine for not declaring his food.
16:43However, officers are now trying to determine the contents of his herbal medicine.
16:48So, he gave me a list of ingredients from his doctor,
16:52and this list was in Sri Lankan, which obviously I cannot speak.
16:58So, he got very upset and emotional.
17:01So, we did our best.
17:03We were able to find a translator, and we got the goods translated and looked them up.
17:09All right, sir, today we're releasing the medicines to you, okay?
17:13The passenger still needs to pay the $220 fine,
17:17but, more importantly for him,
17:19he's been allowed to keep the medicine he hopes will cure his skin disease.
17:24Right, exit's just out to your right.
17:26Officers hope he's learned his lesson,
17:28and will declare food and medicine next time he enters the country.
17:33The passenger's fine was deferred.
17:36Two weeks later, he paid $220.
17:45Officers have noticed this passenger's phone has rung many times with the same number,
17:51and now a frisk search has identified an inconsistency with her shoes.
17:57You have something in your shoe?
17:58Yeah.
17:58Okay, what do you have?
17:59The people dating me now.
18:01Okay.
18:01I don't know, a diamond.
18:03Okay, a diamond?
18:04Yeah.
18:05Okay.
18:05Do you have a diamond in your shoe?
18:06Yeah, they told me.
18:07I don't know the people.
18:11The officer that did the frisk said she felt something,
18:13and then we questioned her further.
18:16She admitted that she was carrying a diamond in the shoe.
18:19Just things that I've heard and experienced,
18:21if somebody says they're carrying a diamond or something like that,
18:24it's not necessarily a diamond.
18:25They told you to bring a diamond in?
18:27Yeah.
18:28And you have it in your shoe?
18:29Yeah, but I didn't see it.
18:31You didn't see the diamond?
18:33When did they put it in your shoe?
18:36Two days.
18:37Okay.
18:38You've had it in your shoe for two days?
18:40Saturday.
18:40What's today?
18:41Sunday.
18:41Saturday.
18:43Okay.
18:44Do you have anything else on you?
18:45No.
18:45Anything inside you?
18:47No.
18:47Anything in...
18:48No.
18:48Are you sure?
18:49No.
18:49You sure?
18:50No.
18:50You should tell us now.
18:51I tell you everything too.
18:53I have nothing inside me.
18:54What we're going to do now is detain you.
18:55We're going to go into a room.
18:57We're going to have an interview.
18:59We'll talk a bit more about the diamond in your shoe.
19:10The woman's shoes will now need to be x-rayed.
19:13You can see the molting olfactor through the shoes.
19:16It's inconsistent.
19:18They're definitely both loaded.
19:19As you can see from looking in the top,
19:20that verifies that they're definitely loaded shoes.
19:23But the question is, loaded with what?
19:34Your wife has absolutely no information about your leg injury,
19:38about your leave from work.
19:40She knows everything.
19:42I spoke with her last week.
19:44This passenger has been issued with a notice of intention
19:48to cancel his visa.
19:49Now he'll have the opportunity to respond
19:52and convey why his visa should not be cancelled.
19:56I think I've done nothing wrong.
20:00Driving offences is not so serious.
20:02Yeah?
20:03Yes?
20:03And I thought it's about serious crimes.
20:07But you were in prison for more than two months.
20:10That's not serious enough?
20:12Yeah.
20:12Yeah.
20:13Mr. Zek, I consider that there are grounds
20:16for your visa cancellation.
20:17I'm satisfied.
20:19So your visa has been cancelled today.
20:22I think your decision is wrong.
20:25But what I can do, you, officer,
20:29I'm just a visitor.
20:32Well, it doesn't appear that he's been forthcoming.
20:35There are a number of inconsistencies
20:38with regard to his employment,
20:41his criminal history.
20:42So it does lead us to doubt
20:44a lot of what he's saying.
20:46It's no point to argue with anybody
20:50and, like, decisions are made already.
20:54But, um, that's it.
20:57The passenger was returned to the UK
21:00on a flight later that day.
21:10Back in Sydney,
21:12officers are doubting this woman's claim
21:14that she is hiding diamonds
21:16in the soles of her shoes.
21:18You run, ma'am?
21:21The shoes are very chunky, as you can see,
21:23and they're brand new.
21:24They're a brand new pair of shoes.
21:26As you can probably see,
21:27we can see some substance
21:28in the bottom of the shoes.
21:30The inner's seem to be taken up.
21:31Something's been packed inside
21:32and the inner's put back down.
21:33As you can see,
21:34the white powder around the side.
21:36At the moment,
21:36we're not sure what it is.
21:39The Australian Federal Police are called
21:41while a swab is taken from the shoes
21:43that may help identify
21:45the type of narcotic conceal.
21:47This is only a trace detection.
21:49So I'm just taking a swab
21:51of what we got out of the shoe
21:53from my knife
21:54and I'll just run this
21:55through the iron scan.
22:04OK, so that is positive.
22:06So that swab that I just took from the shoe
22:08has come up positive for heroin.
22:10The Australian Federal Police
22:11are in there now talking to her.
22:12More than likely,
22:13you take her into custody,
22:14take the shoes and her into custody
22:16and then they'll do more tests
22:18on the shoes,
22:19the powder,
22:20and see what it is.
22:39Next week on Border Security.
22:42Why are we getting readings
22:44off all your sins?
22:45A Taiwanese woman
22:46struggles to answer
22:47a barrage of questions.
22:49Not just one,
22:50not just two,
22:51but now everything we swab
22:52we get readings.
22:53Why?
22:54You've already admitted
22:56your intentions.
22:56This passenger won't take
22:58no for an answer.
22:59He leaves me no choice.
23:01So nothing to plan.
23:02And a whole family
23:04may have set a new record.
23:06Nearly every question
23:07is asked you about something
23:08that you actually have.
23:09You have to be touched on it.
23:09I am about to be touched the