Tower PC case used as 'creative cavity' by drug importer
- Reference: 1730363105
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/10/31/australia_pc_drug_arrest/
- Source link:
The arrest of an unnamed Malaysian national took place yesterday, after a consignment of goods arrived by air in Sydney on October 16. Australia's Border Force spotted something odd in the shipment, tested and found drugs – but then released the goods for delivery.
The shipment was delivered yesterday, at which point Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers swooped on the man who picked them up.
[1]
Police allege the shipment contained 100 kilograms of methamphetamine – enough for around one million street deals.
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Here's what a tower PC full of drugs looks like when scanned.
[6]
X-ray of PC allegedly containing methamphetamine. Image: Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force – Click to enlarge
And here's what it looked like after Australia's Feds opened it.
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PC allegedly containing methamphetamine. Image: Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force – Click to enlarge
The unnamed man who was arrested has been charged with one count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of border controlled drugs.
AFP acting superintendent Stuart Millen said the incident indicated criminals "will attempt to hide illicit substances in creative cavities to evade our detection."
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However a tower PC case is hardly creative – they're boxes with some useful wiring and metal inside. They're not very valuable – almost certainly not pricey enough to justify the cost of air freight – and not hard to find in Australia.
Which probably made it easy for plod to pick out this shipment as suspicious. ®
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[6] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/10/31/supplied_x_ray_of_pc_allegedly_containing_meth.jpg
[7] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/10/31/supplied_x_ray_of_pc_allegedly_containing_meth_open.jpg
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It kinda makes sense that the case for the controller for something that produces x-rays would be specified to stop x-ray penetration. Otherwise the x-rays would be able to take over the controller, and then start plotting the demise of their human masters!
I for one welcome our new x-ray controlled controller controlling masters!
x^2-rays?
Naw, it was just a 4U short rack case. They always tend to be made out of relatively thick metal, as often the entire weight is held by the ears. the xray source itself was on the other side of the room in it's own housing with a vertical wave guide.
He should have...
Hidden his harddrugs in a harddrive...
Re: He should have...
Or a dummy battery in a laptop. Either would have sailed through customs no questions asked.
Yet another example of criminals being caught because they were simply not very good.
GJC
Vast numbers of items ship by air and yet they managed to home in on this one? That suggests they had - wait for it - Intel inside
/coat
Should have shipped them as high value AI PCs - they would have sailed through without checks
AI = Amphetamines Inside
Perhaps it a high-spec gaming machine - ideal for speed running
Creative Cavity?
I was picturing a street mime requiring a cavity search.
Re: Creative Cavity?
"I was picturing a street mime requiring a cavity search."
If there is consent and both are above 18, I believe there's nothing wrong about that.
Filler
Funny that some manufacturers put fillers that look like that so that the components stay in place during transport.
Clippy on drugs
It looks like are growing another sets of heads ... do you have advice?
I wonder if they were betting the case couldn't be x-rayed. Our xray controller PCs can't, but the case is 1-1.5mm thick steel on all sides, which does tend to make your average dell look like tinfoil.
(Found out about this when taking a repaired unit back to Birmingham Airport, going airside, the controlled appeared as a solid blank square on the xray machine we had to go though to get to where our xray machine lived!)