Australian who smuggled 50 pounds of cocaine hidden inside printers get nine years behind bars — five devices intercepted by border forces had compressed powder stuffed in the paper trays

⚡ Quick Hits

• An Australian man received a nine-year prison sentence for a major drug smuggling operation.
• Border forces successfully intercepted 50 pounds of cocaine disguised within standard tech hardware.
• The illicit compressed powder was stuffed directly into the paper trays of five different printers.

Greetings from The Tech Monk! We usually spend our time hunting down the best deals on high-yield laser printers, mechanical keyboards, and the latest silicon. However, today's hardware update involves a completely different kind of paper jam—one that ended with a nine-year prison sentence.

In a bizarre intersection of everyday office tech and international crime, an Australian man was recently sentenced to nearly a decade behind bars after attempting to use computer hardware as a smuggling vessel. Border forces intercepted a shipment of five printers, but instead of finding starter toner cartridges and warranty manuals, they discovered 50 pounds of cocaine.

The smugglers had heavily compressed the illicit powder and stuffed it directly into the paper trays of the devices in an attempt to bypass customs. Fortunately, border authorities detected the modifications before the "hardware" could hit the streets.

While we always appreciate clever uses of empty space in PC cases and tech peripherals, this is definitely one hardware modification we strongly advise against. Stick to upgrading your RAM, and leave the paper trays for standard A4!