Drugs and deadly weapons seized at Australia’s borders

Drugs, guns and other deadly weapons smuggled into the country through international mail are being seized by the Australian Border Force (ABF) on a daily basis.

When harmful and illegal items are being mailed in from overseas, the force finds and intercepts high-risk cargo.

Operations are now starting to ramp up their watch in the lead up to Christmas, which is their busiest time of the year with the increased volume of mail.

"We make a significant number of detections each day," ABF Acting Superintendent David Swan said.

A total of 145 million items came through Australian gateway facilities last financial year, with 74 percent of it via Sydney.

About 58 million pieces of mail were inspected with 227,000 suspicious items opened to have a closer look at.

From that, 81,000 detections were made with finds ranging from tobacco to hard drugs and weapons.

Often senders try to smuggle the items in under the disguise of something harmless, including knives looking like pens.

"We work pretty hard to try and ensure that they don't pass through the border,” Det. Swan said.