Two Canadians charged with allegedly smuggling meth into Australia

Two Canadians have been charged with allegedly smuggling meth that was hidden in their luggage into Australia. (Handout: Australian Border Force)

Vancouver — Two Canadians have been charged with allegedly smuggling methamphetamines hidden inside their luggage into Australia.

The 27-year-old man and 26-year-old woman flew into Melbourne from Vancouver on Feb. 29. When their luggage was scanned, officials said the X-ray revealed "anomalies" to the lining of four of their bags.

"A bag of white crystalline material was allegedly located in the lining of the luggage," the Australian Border Force and the Australian Federal Police said in a joint statement. "Presumptive testing of the crystalline material from the luggage items returned a positive result for methamphetamine."

Officers said they found four one-kilogram packages inside each of their bags for a total of about 16 kilograms of meth.

"As a result of officer's intuition, these passengers were targeted for a baggage search. When the contents of the male passenger's suitcase was emptied by ABF officers, they noted that it still seemed unusually heavy which led to it being X-rayed," said the ABF's regional commander for Victoria and Tasmania, Craig Palmer.

Border officials said "similar discrepancies" were also found with the woman's suitcase.

The man and woman, who have not been named by officials, have been charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and two counts of possessing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. If convicted, the maximum penalty is life in prison.

Both Canadians remain in custody and are scheduled to appear in court on May 22.