MFA v The Queen

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by MFA against a conviction for an offence under s 235(2) of the *Criminal Code* (Cth). The appellant had been found guilty of possessing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug, namely cocaine. The central issue on appeal concerned the admissibility of evidence obtained through a search of the appellant's luggage at an international airport.

The High Court was required to determine whether the search conducted by Australian Federal Police officers was lawful under the *Customs Act 1901* (Cth) and, consequently, whether the evidence of cocaine found in the luggage was admissible. Specifically, the Court had to consider the scope of the powers of search conferred by s 118 of the *Customs Act* and the requirements for a lawful search under that provision, particularly in relation to the necessity of reasonable suspicion.

The Court held that the search of the appellant's luggage was unlawful. Section 118 of the *Customs Act* requires an officer to have reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence against the Act has been committed or is about to be committed before they can search a person or their baggage. In this instance, the Court found that the information available to the officers at the time of the search did not give rise to a reasonable suspicion that the appellant was carrying prohibited imports. The information relied upon was too general and did not point specifically to the appellant or the nature of the goods he might be carrying. As the search was unlawful, the evidence obtained as a result of that search was inadmissible.

The appeal was allowed, the conviction was quashed, and a retrial was ordered.