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The Minister for Home Affairs Bob Debus has introduced new laws into Federal Parliament that will strengthen border enforcement powers for Customs officers.
"Under current laws, Customs officers can board a ship or aircraft to search for weapons, drugs and other prohibited items that may be concealed on board.
"If evidence such as drugs are found, officers can arrest the people on board, but they haven't had the power to immediately search anyone on board a suspicious vessel or aircraft.
"Customs officers have increasingly faced situations where there's resistance to them boarding foreign ships suspected of being involved in illegal activities.
"These situations also often mean evidence is disposed of before it can be secured by Customs.
"The new powers are appropriate as they'll significantly reduce the threat of harm to officers while helping prevent escapes and the destruction or disposal of evidence," Mr Debus said.
In the latest action, Customs and Victoria Police have significantly disrupted attempts to export more than 30 tonnes of allegedly stolen copper with an estimated valued of $2.7 million.
To date, Victoria Police have arrested nine people in connection with the attempted exportations.
In the most recent seizures Customs identified two containers bound for Asia allegedly containing a significant quantity of stolen copper wire. This follows the recovery of 8.3 tonnes of copper wire earlier this month.
These export detections are believed to be part of Victoria's largest copper theft racket and the latest seizures and arrests form part of an on-going two-year investigation by Victoria Police.
Transit Safety Division - Divisional Response Unit Acting Detective Sergeant Barry Hills said police were extremely pleased with the result.
"We believe the results-to-date will have a significant impact on copper theft syndicates operating in and around Melbourne.
"We are confident we have identified a number of key players whose illegal activities have ceased as a direct result of our investigations," Acting Detective Sergeant Hills said.
This week's seizures are the result of targeted searches of export containers by Customs at its Melbourne Customs Examination Facility.
Customs national manager cargo operations south Graham Krisohos said the results highlighted the benefits of ongoing close cooperation between Customs and Victoria Police.
"Customs efforts in screening export cargo have played a key role in this latest breakthrough," Mr Krisohos said.
Copper theft has been identified as a major issue affecting public transport as police believe the majority of the wire was stolen from railway networks.
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