Woman jailed after disturbing find inside 62,000kg of Thai food sent to Australia
An attempt to illegally import 62,000kg of exotic foods into Australia has landed a woman in jail. Inside mislabelled polystyrene boxes, border agents found a variety of packages, some containing ingredients that seldom make local menu listings like frozen frogs.
Other boxes included prawns, fresh produce infested with insects, and pork. All were sent from Thailand and destined for Sydney's black market, but her plan came unstuck after authorities were tipped off by a confidential source.
Had the boxes not been intercepted, the products inside could have threatened both wildlife and the agriculture industry.
Looking generally at the threat posed by undeclared foreign goods, frogs can carry diseases like chytridiomycosis, which has already caused the decline or extinction of over 500 amphibian species around the world. Prawns can be infected with a highly contagious virus called white spot disease, and pork can be contaminated by an array of illnesses not seen in Australia, like African swine fever.
When it comes to invasive insects, once they breach our borders, state and federal authorities seem unable to stop their spread. The varroa mite has had a severe impact on honey production, fire ants are marching down Australia's east coast, while over in Perth the shot-hole borer has killed thousands of trees and crippled the local plant trade.
There are stringent laws designed to stop pests and diseases from entering Australia, and anyone who breaches them faces fines of up $1.6 million and 10 years in jail.
On Thursday, Australia's Department of Agriculture (DAFF) revealed a woman connected to the 62,000kg importation plan had been sentenced to two years' jail and ordered to serve 150 hours of community service. The sentence was handed down by a judge on June 11, after she was convicted of nine counts against the Biosecurity Act.
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DAFF's deputy secretary of biosecurity Justine Saunders said because the haul was so large, it presented 'numerous biosecurity risks to Australia'.
'Australia is free from many of the pests, weeds and diseases that impact agricultural productivity and the environment in other parts of the world. Our biosecurity officers work tirelessly to keep these pests out,' she said.
'Illegal activity can undermine Australia's animal, plant and human health status and our excellent global reputation.'
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