Australian Customs mistakes tea for drugs

Sarah Farnsworth

Last Updated: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:36:00 +1100

A woman tourist from the Philippines spent five days in custody after Australian Customs officials mistook iced tea for drugs.

Maria Silva, 29, bought three 800-gram bags of Nestle iced tea on her way to the airport in Manila before her flight to Melbourne.

On arrival in Melbourne, she was arrested by Customs when initial tests showed the packets contained amphetamines.

Ms Silva was charged with importing drugs into Australia.

It was only after she spent five days in custody that further tests revealed the packets contained lemon-flavoured iced tea.

The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard the beverage has a history of being mistaken for drugs.

The magistrate awarded Ms Silva $5,000 in costs for what he described as an unfortunate set of circumstances.

Her lawyer says Customs is yet to apologise for its mistake.