Offbeat

Class A drugs loaded instead of A4

An Australian court has sentenced a man to nine years in jail for smuggling cocaine inside printers.

According to a post from Australia’s Border Force and Federal Police, in 2017, “officers intercepted a consignment of five printers … locating 10 packages of compressed white powder concealed within their paper trays.”

Initial tests suggested the substance was cocaine – 22.4kg of it – so Border Force swapped it out for another material and then shipped the package to its intended destination.

Four men picked up the printers, at which point authorities swooped.

The gears of justice can grind slowly in Australia, so the matter didn’t reach court for years. One of the accused was found not guilty. In 2022, another received a ten-year sentence. Another got the same term last year.

The fourth man – who Australian authorities have described as a “syndicate member” – fronted up before a judge in 2024 and learned his fate last week when the Victorian County Court sentenced him to nine years, with a four-and-a-half-year non-parole period.

Drug smugglers down under seem quite fond of computing hardware: In 2014 we reported that authorities found laser printer toner cartridges full of methamphetamine and charged a woman over the matter.

And in 2024 we spotted news of tower PC cases brought across the border with 100kg of meth inside. Again, Border Force spotted the drugs at the border, then staked out the recipient before swooping in to make an arrest.

Australian government data suggests cocaine retails for AU$300-$400 per gram ($215 to $290), and methamphetamine for around AU$50 ($35). Cartridges for your correspondent’s color laser printer cost AU$139 ($100) apiece and a third party toner refill vendor sells 45 grams of the colored dust for just $8.40.

The potential profits are nothing to sniff at. ®