September 1, 2020
Two merchant seamen have been refused entry into Australia after trying to smuggle in nearly 5kg of pork and pork products in breach of biosecurity laws.
“One traveller failed to declare 1975g of raw pork fat, 660g of salami, 100g of pork rind, 340g of chicken, 870g of non-eviscerated fish and 350g of other fish,” Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said.
“The other traveller failed to declare 2235g of pork meat and fat.
“Each of the items seized could pose a direct threat to our agricultural industries and environment.
“The travellers contravened subsection 533(1) of the Biosecurity Act 2015 by knowingly providing a false or misleading document (ie. the Incoming Passenger Card) to a biosecurity officer on arrival to Australia.”
The men, both Ukrainian nationals, arrived at Perth International Airport on a flight from Singapore on Friday night.
They were holding Transit Visas and were due to enter quarantine for 14 days prior to joining a commercial ship at Fremantle.
After Biosecurity officers detected the food in the men’s baggage they were referred to Australian Border Force officers who cancelled their visas.
The travellers are now in immigration detention pending removal from Australia. They are likely to be ineligible to come back to Australia for three years.