2LT National News

PERTH, Western Australia – Drug traffickers have stooped to a new low, smuggling drugs inside boxes containing children’s books.

The dealers themselves are quite youthful. Not so long ago they would have been reading the books themselves.

The two, both of whom have been arrested, are aged just 20 and 21.

They are charged with smuggling around eight kilograms of cocaine into Western Australia.

Imported from the UK via the postal system, the drugs were concealed inside two boxes of books including the children’s titles.

On Thursday officers from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Western Australian Police Force (WAPF) executed search warrants in the Perth suburb of Thornlie.

The two men were arrested at the Thornlie address, following an investigation involving the AFP, WAPF, and Australian Border Force (ABF).

Both men could face a maximum term of life imprisonment.

Officers from WAPF’s Organised Crime Squad also executed a search warrant at a Coolbellup residence where two firearms, a handgun and an SKS rifle, and substances believed to be cannabis and steroids were seized.

A 25-year-old Coolbellup man was arrested and charged.

“The AFP continues to work with domestic partners and those abroad to protect the public from criminals who aim to harm the community through the importation of illicit drugs,” AFP Detective Superintendent Timothy Underhill said Friday.

ABF Superintendent Enforcement Command WA, Clinton Sims, said cooperation between law enforcement agencies had again achieved a significant result.

“ABF officers will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to make sure consignments like these containing illicit substances do not make it through the border, and those who attempt to import them face significant penalties,” Superintendent Sims said.

Detective Superintendent Kim Massam from WAPF’s Serious and Organised Crime Division said the partnerships between state and commonwealth law enforcement agencies continue to deliver positive outcomes for the Western Australian community.

“As a result of our collaboration a significant amount of Cocaine has been prevented from reaching WA communities, and through our joint efforts we have been able to take illicit firearms off the streets.”

The two Thornlie men were scheduled to appear before the Perth Magistrates court on Friday. The Coolbellup man is due to appear in the Fremantle Magistrates Court on 12 April 2019.