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New doubts on Schapelle Corby case
Air baggage security fear
04-06-06 | HeraldSun.Com | Luke McIlveen

SCHAPELLE Corby's conviction in Bali for drug handing has been cast into doubt by fresh claims baggage handlers in Sydney repeatedly tampered with security cameras.

Sydney Labor MP John Murphy said the security breaches also raised questions about allegations a drug syndicate ran $30 million in cocaine through Sydney airport with the help of corrupt baggage handlers.
The two cameras inside the baggage handling unit were sabotaged three times between October 2004 and May 2005. Mr Murphy told the NSW Parliament that federal Customs Minister Chris Ellison had confirmed the cameras had been deliberately disabled.

"The Customs maintenance provider of its CCTV cameras at Sydney International Airport has been required to adjust two of Customs' CCTV cameras in the baggage make-up area of the airport on three occasions in total between October 2004 and May 2005," Senator Ellison said.

"These adjustments were required to correct the field of view following reports from Customs' control room operators that cameras were pointing in the wrong direction."

The cameras are used to monitor the behaviour of baggage handlers as they sift through luggage behind the airport's carousels.

The new revelations add weight to an internal Customs report in September 2004 that revealed large-scale corruption among baggage handlers and other airport staff.

"Intelligence from other law enforcement agencies suggests that some Asian-recruited Qantas crew may be involved in the importation of narcotics," the report found.

The report also revealed that baggage handlers diverted bags containing drugs from incoming international flights to domestic carousels so they would not be checked.

In a recent case involving corrupt airport workers, former Qantas baggage handler Raymond Camilleri was this week sentenced to one year of home detention for tipping off a cocaine dealer that police had seized his luggage.

But Mr Murphy said the security breach was most relevant to the Corby case and urged her lawyers to act in the light of the new developments.

"I am sure Schapelle Corby and her legal team would like to know precisely when the first breach occurred and how long it took to be brought to the attention of the Customs Minister," Mr Murphy said yesterday.

Corby's luggage -- including the bag in which 4.1kg of cannabis was found in Bali -- passed through Sydney Airport between October 7 and 9, 2004.

Corby, who is serving a 20-year jail term in a Bali jail for drug trafficking, has always insisted that an unknown person planted the drugs in her luggage.

Mr Murphy said apart from the implications for high-profile drug matters, the scam also exposed huge flaws in the country's defence against terrorism.

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