Qantas baggage handlers arrested on tarmac in organised crime sting

Qantas baggage handlers arrested on tarmac in organised crime sting
Edited by Travel Weekly


    Two Qantas baggage handlers have been arrested on the tarmac over the weekend after allegedly unloading 100 kilograms of cocaine from QF 64 from Johannesburg.

    The arrest is part of a major AFP sting into a drug syndicate which police will allege has ties to serious organised crime including gangland figures such as Bilal Haouchar.

    According to the Daily Telegraph, court documents reveal that five bags were loaded with cocaine and put onto QF 64 with two Qantas baggage handlers waiting at Sydney Airport to collect the illegal contents of the luggage.

    Following over a year’s worth of investigations, the AFP alleges that this was not the first time the route had been used to get drugs across the Australian border and that the two Qantas staff were crucial to the operation.

    Following the airport arrests, Federal police executed four search warrants in nearby suburbs Coogee, Mascot and Hillsdale.

    AFP Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy said that the facilitator of the job had liaised with organised crime figures.

    “People with trusted access in an airport precinct are critical to the successful operation of Australia’s tourism and trade sectors, but the AFP will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those who abuse this trust by assisting and profiting from organised crime,” Det Supt Cressy said.

    “We will allege the organiser of this importation was well-organised and well-resourced, while the men working with trusted insiders had the potential to assist numerous criminal endeavours if they were allowed to continue unchecked.”

    Latest News

    • Aviation

    Top four airports report return to profit after post-Covid period comes to an end

    The aeronautical operations of Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney airports returned to profit in 2022-23, the first full financial year since the end of COVID-19 travel restrictions, the ACCC’s latest Airport Monitoring Report shows. In contrast, all four monitored airports reported losses on their aeronautical operations in 2021-22. A return to profit was helped by […]

    • Luxury

    COMO launches new family-sized farmhouse in the heart of Tuscany

    COMO Hotels and Resorts has launched its new farmhouse apartments in the heart of Tuscany, just in time for Australians to escape our wet winter. And it’s also an ideal time for Aussies of Italian ancestry to explore their home country as 2024 has been declared the year of Roots and Heritage Tourism by the […]

    • Aviation

    Green light, green fuel for Townsville Airport as passenger numbers set to double to 3.7m

    The Townsville Airport Master Plan, including the expansion of the airport terminal and development of the surrounding precinct, has been given the green light by the Federal Government. The 2023 plan outlined Townsville Airport’s strategic vision and growth objectives over the next two decades, with a detailed focus on the initial eight years. Townsville Airport […]

    • Destinations
    • News

    New Caledonia in lockdown and airport closed after violent riots rock Noumea

    New Caledonia officials have announced a 6pm-6am curfew, a liquor ban and have closed the country’s main airport after overnight riots in which vehicles were torched and roads blocked in the wake of proposed constitutional reforms. Australian Government website Smartraveller has issued an alert informing visitors to exercise a high degree of caution in metropolitan […]