Doped Silicon: Building a very personal PC system has never been easier. The number of case types that can adapt to anyone's needs is frankly staggering at this point, though someone made the unique choice of using a few tower cases as suitcases, of sorts, for an unlawful drug trafficking operation.
A Malaysian man was recently caught by Australian authorities while trying to import 100kg (220 pounds) of methamphetamine into the country. Working together with the Australian Border Force (ABF), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) discovered the dangerous shipment on October 16, 2024, when the items arrived from Malaysia through an air cargo consignment.
Australian authorities said that when ABF officers examined the consignment, they discovered blocks of a "white substance" hidden within an unspecified number of PC tower cases. Lab tests returned a positive result for methamphetamine, so the ABF alerted the Federal Police to properly deal with the case.
The drug blocks were understandably removed from their unusual shipping "containers" and the drug-free consignment was eventually delivered to a Kingsgrove storage unit on October 30. The 45-year-old Malaysian man was there to pick the PC cases up, and he was subsequently arrested by AFP officials.
The alleged smuggler has been charged with one count of attempted drug possession, which could result in a life sentence. AFP Acting Superintendent Stuart Millen said that the amount of methamphetamine discovered in some ordinary PC cases could have been sold as "one million street-level deals." The drug could have had a very negative impact on Australian daily life, resulting in domestic violence, hospital cases, or road incidents.
Criminals do not care about the harm they can cause, Millen said, they just want to make as much money as possible. They will also attempt to hide their deadly drugs in creative ways to try and evade detection, as the PC tower case clearly shows. Australian border inspectors are well aware of this lateral way of thinking, so they have been trained to properly monitor and check any large consignments coming through Australian borders.
As for the specific case models used by the Malaysian criminal to smuggle the drug, the PC towers discovered by the ABF appear to be almost completely empty Dell Optiplex units; they could be recycled cases coming from office surplus or closeouts. Every case could apparently house a significant amount of carefully packed methamphetamine.
Someone tried to smuggle 100kg of synthetic drugs into Australia inside a bunch of PC cases
