A flight attendant who had just worked on an international flight to Melbourne, Australia, was busted by police and customs agents as she attempted to smuggle 1kg of heroin with an estimated street value of AU $500,000 (US $344,000) into the country.
The 26-year-old Thai national has been remanded into custody and charged with one count of importing a controlled drug and one count of possession of a controlled drug. If found guilty, each count carries a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said customs agents at Melbourne Tullamarine International Airport (MEL) became suspicious when a routine X-ray of the flight attendant’s checked suitcase showed “anomalies.”
The case was pulled for inspection, and inside the agents discovered 12 tote bags. Concealed within the lining of these bags was a white powder which tested positive for heroin.
The female flight attendant flew into Melbourne on June 25, although details of the case are only now being released after she was charged. She is next due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on September 14, 2026.
“Anyone attempting to import illicit drugs into Australia, regardless of rank or position, will be targeted and face the full force of the law,” commented Australian Border Force Commander Clint Sims.
“ABF officers use intelligence-led targeting and a range of detection capabilities to identify those individuals who attempt to breach our border controls,” Sims added.
Authorities did not release details of the airline that the flight attendant worked for or the origin of the flight that she arrived on.
In 2022, a Malaysian flight attendant was sentenced to spend five years and eight months in an Australian prison after he pleaded guilty to “repeatedly” smuggling commercial quantities of Heroin into the country.
The 51-year-old veteran flight attendant was nabbed by Australian Border Force officers at Sydney International Airport (SYD) in January 2019 and had been held in custody until the end of the court case, which had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Along with other gang members, the flight attendants allegedly smuggled in as much as $6 million worth of heroin into Australia, most of which was brought in through Melbourne Tullamarine.
Another Malaysian flight attendant was jailed for nine and a half years after being caught trying to smuggle a bundle of heroin in her underwear and bra after working a flight into Melbourne.
Zailee Zainal, 40, a mother of two who had never touched drugs or alcohol, was roped into the smuggling ring as she desperately tried to raise cash to cover medical bills for her sick daughter.
