An Irish man is behind bars after he was stopped at Melbourne airport and taken to hospital for a CT scan which allegedly revealed six Kinder Surprise capsules packed with cocaine.
The passenger’s bags were searched at the international airport in late December with Australian Border Force alleging there was a positive result for the presence of cocaine.
The 28-year-old, who had arrived on a flight from the Middle East, was then taken to Royal Melbourne hospital for the scan.
“He later excreted six yellow plastic capsules that allegedly contained a total of about 120g of cocaine,” border force and Australian federal police said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
Five of the capsules were in condoms with one wrapped in plastic cling film.
The Irish national was charged with one count of importing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug. He was remanded in custody and is due back in court in late March. If convicted he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail.
“Smuggling drugs internally is idiotic,” AFP Det Acting Supt Chris Salmon said in a statement. “There is the real risk that something could go wrong, resulting in a potentially fatal drug overdose or permanent damage to internal organs.”
Border force warned would-be drug smugglers it was “not worth risking your health by attempting to internally transport drugs into our country as ABF officers are highly trained in detection and will ensure that you are stopped at the border”.
