ATS: Australia: Sydney Airport Staff Involved in Drug Smuggling.

Polls show an overwhelming majority of Australians believe that someone else hid the drugs in Corby's surfboard bag.

Her lawyers have suggested that baggage handlers could have stowed the drugs in her bag at Brisbane airport -- where she began her journey -- and that baggage handlers at Sydney Airport were supposed to retrieve the marijuana while Corby was in transit there before flying to Bali.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Interesting the timing of this report. Something tells me it was a deliberate action intended to highlight the Schapelle case issues. Some might not be aware that the Australian media is just as much influenced by, and in bed with, government as it is in the States....maybe more.

"Investigations revealed that some security guards ... have been in Australia for relatively short periods of time yet have already been issued with security and firearms licences despite their grasp of English being minimal."

The report said one security guard and his family were members of a "fanatical" religious group.

Among trolley distributors, the report says, "there is a predominance of Middle Eastern male employees in their early 20s".

"It was felt some of the men were under the influence of a particular supervisor who used his 'lieutenants' in the distribution of narcotics and the systematic stealing from carpark and baggage.

"Some of these persons have affiliations with radical ... groups and are seen as a possible security liability. Some have associations with gangs predominantly in Sydney's southwest renowned for gang rapes, ram raids, theft, drive-bys and car-rebirthing.

"The vulnerability of Sydney airport ... should not be under-evaluated in terms of counter-terrorism or other criminal activity."

The head of security for Qantas says security issues identified in a leaked Customs report on Sydney airport will be raised at a meeting with the Department of Transport on Friday.

The Customs report suggests criminal gangs involving some airport staff could be involved in drug smuggling and identifies several types of staff that may pose security risks.

Qantas head of security Geoff Askew says the airline had been told nothing about the report and he had to call Customs today to find out what it was about.

The federal Government has hit back at claims it failed to pass on to Schapelle Corby's lawyers a Customs report into drug smuggling at Australian airports, saying it never knew the document existed.

Labor has questioned why the Government did not hand over the secret report, which revealed that baggage handlers diverted bags containing large amounts of drugs from incoming international flights to domestic baggage carousels.
Given the report had been around since September, Opposition homeland security spokesman Robert McClelland said it should have gone to lawyers for Corby, who was sentenced by a Bali court last week to 20 years jail for drug smuggling.

Indonesian officials found 4.1kg of marijuana in Corby's unlocked boogie board bag. She denied the trafficking charges and said someone put the drugs in her bag.

"(The report) indicates systematic criminality ... that is a material fact that at the very least should have been disclosed to her defence," Mr McClelland said.

Originally posted by sanctum
So, the Customs Department which is a Federal Government Department does not communicate this information as soon as it is available, given the fact that the report was completed last year.

I find this claim of ignorance by the government very hard to believe.

Originally posted by cryptorsa1001
Another case that proves prohibition on drugs does not work. It just makes a black market with huge profits for the one willing to take risks.

50 airport staff failed crime check.

About 50 workers at airports across Australia have been refused security passes since last July, the Federal Government has revealed.

A spokesman for the Minister for Transport, John Anderson, said the workers had failed criminal checks. Paul Chamberlin said that none of the cases were for politically-motivated violence.

The revelation comes as the NSW Police Minister, Carl Scully, accused the Federal Government of "scandalous inaction" on Sydney Airport security weaknesses and relying on airlines to protect Australia against terrorism.

Mr Scully will today ask the Justice and Customs Minister, Chris Ellison, to urgently introduce further security measures to counter deficiencies found at Sydney Airport in a Customs risk assessment report.

"I'll be conveying to him firstly my deep concerns about the contents of that report, and what appears to be scandalous inaction on the part of Customs and the Federal Government on airport security," Mr Scully told the Herald.

Federal Transport Minister John Anderson has announced a review of security at Sydney airport, after the leaking of a 2004 Customs report which found serious security breaches.

Further concerns have been raised today about an airport worker who had been jailed for drug smuggling.

Mr Anderson says there are two workers who fit the description but both have served their time in jail.

He says it would be illegal to discriminate against them for past offences.

"Their previous misdemeanours must be overlooked - they cannot be used to discriminate against people in the workplace," Mr Anderson said.

Claims of drug-smuggling by Sydney airport workers have shifted to the domestic terminal, where a baggage handler has been arrested - offering hope to Schapelle Corby's appeal team.

The arrest yesterday of Richard Camilleri, 40, marked the fourth time a Qantas worker has been implicated in alleged drug-smuggling in the past four months.

The three other employees worked at the international terminal.

Police allege Mr Camilleri had prior knowledge of 250g of coc aine being smuggled from Sydney to Melbourne and told an associate that police had seized the drugs en route.

Two American sailors and a Canadian national have been arrested for allegedly smuggling drugs into Australia aboard a US Navy ship.

The three men were arrested in northern Queensland north overnight after the discovery of 11kg of amphetamines disguised as gift-wrapped packages, an Australian Federal Police (AFP) spokeswoman said.
Police arrested an American, 36, and the Canadian, 34, who lives on the Gold Coast, at a highway service station about 20km south of Townsville last night, the spokeswoman said.

The pair were allegedly in possession of the drugs.The other American, 39, was arrested at a Townsville hotel after an AFP search of his room allegedly yielded $US10,000 ($13,070) in cash.

One of the sailors is believed to be from the USS Boxer which will now be the subject of intense internal scrutiny involving sniffer dogs and random drug testing of its crew.

The US Navy has already pledged full co-operation with the AFP.

The USS Boxer was one of three American naval vessels to arrive in Townsville yesterday ahead of Talisman Sabre 2005 – a joint military exercise involving 17,000 US and Australian troops from June 12-30.