Drugs from China 'in picture frames'

A man has been charged with smuggling from China a precursor chemical commonly used
to make the illegal drug ice hidden inside photo frames, customs says.
A package containing about half a kilogram of the ice precursor ephedrine, hidden
inside photo frames, was intercepted by customs officers at the Australia Post
Sydney Gateway facility last month.
Customs and Border Protection spokesman Richard Janeczko said the package was sent
from China to a Melbourne address.
"Customs and Border Protection has the skills and capabilities to detect and
investigate the smuggling of precursor drugs no matter how they are disguised," he
said in a statement on Monday."
After the discovery, a 22-year-old Chinese man was arrested on April 1 at a northern
Melbourne residence.
He was charged with the importation of a marketable quantity of a border-controlled
precursor.
The man was granted bail to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court and is due to
reappear on May 13, 2009.
The maximum penalty for the offence is 15 years' imprisonment and/or a fine of
$300,000.