A 32-year-old Sydney man has been sentenced after Australian Federal Police found $618,360 in cash inside his suitcase at Perth Airport.
The man, from Kingsford, was traveling through the airport’s domestic terminal on 14 March 2023 when security screening detected an anomaly in his luggage. AFP officers searched the suitcase and discovered the large amount of cash.
The man told police the money was linked to transactions involving tobacco businesses and said he planned to use it to buy a tobacconist in Perth.
However, he could not provide documents proving the legitimate source of the money, and the proposed business purchase did not go ahead.
He was charged with dealing with property reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime. He later pleaded guilty to the offence on 15 June 2026.
On 7 August 2026, the Sydney District Court sentenced him to 16 months in prison for the proceeds-of-crime offence. He also received a total sentence of two years and six months for separate customs-related offences, with the sentences to be served concurrently under an intensive correction order.
The AFP said the case highlights the importance of airport security and cooperation between law enforcement and aviation security teams in detecting and disrupting the movement of unexplained cash suspected of being linked to criminal activity.
