Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a Latin phrase that is literally translated as ‘Who will guard the guards themselves?’ The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 19th May 2016 that multiple cases of corruption have been uncovered which involve staff from the Australian Border Force and the Department of Agriculture, along with maritime industry employees with government clearances[1].
A network of Australian Border Security officials is allegedly working for organised criminals, including drug and tobacco smugglers, in the most serious corruption scandal to ever hit the nation’s border agencies. Police have arrested a Department of Agriculture compliance assessment officer and raided his home, over alleged links to organised criminals, including a syndicate led by a well-known Melbourne drug trafficker. A female official has been charged with knowingly dealing in the proceeds of crime, and dealing in property reasonably suspected of being the proceeds of crime. A small network of Department of Agriculture officials responsible for clearing imports into Australia have also been assisting and liaising with known drug traffickers for at least the past five years, according to the SMH. Criminal intelligence suggests one officer has been taking kickbacks of hundreds of thousands of dollars from traffickers, while another has been facilitating importations. A veteran customs officer who has previously worked closely with the AFP and the NSW Crime Commission is suspected of leaking ‘sensitive information’ to drug and tobacco importers. A customs officer is also named as having travelled overseas with a suspected criminal. Some suspected corrupt officers are still operating in their posts.
In related news, at the Australian Federation of International Forwarders (AFIF) National Conference held at Coffs Harbour last week, a program titled ‘Operation Polaris’ – Uncovering a Web of Prohibited Imports, Deception and Fraud, was presented by representatives of Taskforce Polaris[2]. It outlined the undercover operation that smashed an illegal cigarette and cocaine importation ring allegedly involving 13 people, including 4 from our industry – a Customs Broker, Import Manager, Operations Manager & 77G Bond Manager – charged and currently before Court.  And because the matter is still before the Court there were some restrictions in the presentation, which provided an insider’s view into a dangerous 15 month undercover operation stretching from Dubai to Sydney’s inner South West and resulted in 170 officers conducting raids on multiple locations, arresting 13 alleged participants.
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