A 25-year-old Australian woman was busted Tuesday at San Francisco International Airport when sheriff’s deputies allegedly found 44 pounds of methamphetamine in her luggage, according to prosecutors.
Yasmin Van Tongeren told cops that a friend in Australia offered her a “paid vacation” to the U.S., plus 10,000 to 15,000 Australian dollars (about $6,300 to $9,500), to bring a black suitcase back to Brisbane, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe.
Inside that piece of luggage, cops found 20 individually sealed bags of methamphetamine, weighing a total of approximately 44 pounds, and 40 vacuum-sealed bags of packaging material, according to the DA.
Van Tongeren allegedly told authorities that after flying to Los Angeles, she met with a “random person” who took her black suitcase and gave her one with a lock on it.
She was at SFO to fly back to Australia but was flagged as a suspected drug trafficker, Wagstaffe’s statement said. The Department of Homeland Security tipped off the sheriff’s office about a possible drug smuggling operation, a spokesperson for the sheriff told The Standard.
Before officers told Van Tongeren what they had found, she said she had packed the suitcase, according to prosecutors.
Van Tongeren pleaded not guilty to transporting a controlled substance for sale and possession of a controlled substance for sale, according to prosecutors. The sheriff’s office said she had also been arrested on suspicion of burglary.
She remains in jail and was denied bond. A court date is scheduled for Thursday.
Attempts to reach her attorney for comment were unsuccessful.