Vast stores of guns, drugs and other contraband seized by Customs have been left vulnerable to theft because of serious security lapses, a federal government audit has found.
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The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has found problems with the security surrounding "detained goods" seized by Customs including firearms, narcotics, tobacco, pornography and other restricted items.
The agency is battling a series of corruption cases with customs officers around Australia accused of being part of drug importation rings, gun-running and theft.
Customs seized 12,792 items in 2011-2012 with about 90 per cent of the goods recorded in the agency's detained goods management system as firearms, tobacco or drugs. The items are stored by Customs, classified, processed and either returned to their owners or forfeited to the government, with such goods often marked for destruction.
Inspections by the auditors last year of Customs stores, armouries and "temporary storage facilities" across NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and the ACT identified serious security weaknesses.
The audit found that in one case an armoury was left open each working day, in breach of internal gun safety rules, so staff could come and go easily.
The ANAO also highlighted slack management of computer cataloguing systems, tamper-proof storage bags that did not work, and gaps in CCTV surveillance systems.
At two facilities, contraband marked for disposal was catalogued and then left lying around for a month, fully accessible by staff, with no further documentation required before it was destroyed.
Gaps were found in CCTV coverage of weapons storage areas in the periods between mandated monthly firearms counts.
Problems were also found with Customs' detained goods management computer system, an "interim measure" that has been in place for six years.
A number of rank-and-file staff have "administrator access" to electronic catalogues, giving them the ability to alter records or simply remove contraband items from the
agency's system so they could be stolen without a chance of being traced.
"As these operational staff who work in close proximity to detained goods have the ability to delete records, there is an increased risk that an electronic record could be deleted and the corresponding goods stolen without detection," the government auditors wrote.
The auditors noted that Commonwealth prosecutors are considering charges over allegations of theft of detained goods from a destruction facility.
There was also criticism over a 12-month delay before Customs acted on knowledge that storage bags were not "tamper-evident", reflecting "weaknesses in the agency's management arrangements."
Responding to the report, Customs said it had accepted the recommendations of the auditors and had moved to close some of the security gaps identified.
"The recommendations and supporting information contained within the report are accepted by Customs and Border Protection," the agency wrote in its formal response.
"Customs and Border Protection appreciates the feedback provided in the report, recognising that the overall administrative framework to control detained goods is generally sound, and that Customs and Border Protection have responded and actioned a number of issues identified during the course of the audit."
