Pistol and Boo’s discovery in a Queensland poodle-grooming studio is set to go from the absurd to the very serious, with their celebrity owner now facing 10 years jail.

Movie star Johnny Depp was instructed to take his dogs away from Australia in no uncertain terms on May 14 when Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce threatened to have them put down.

At the time, officials searched the private jet for the two Yorkshire terriers but none of the crew acknowledged their existence.

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It appears Depp now faces jail and a maximum $340,000 fine for not declaring the dogs, which were discovered after pictures of them were posted on social media.

The pilot also faces two years in jail Fairfax Media reported from a senate estimates hearing overnight.

The incriminating photo of Johnny Depp’s dogs in Queensland. Photo: ABC

“A celebrity brought their dogs in to be pampered. The dogs were duly pampered and that pampering was put onto social media,” Senator Richard Colbeck reportedly said at the hearing.

The Agriculture Department was called on to answer questions on how the dogs escaped quarantine.

The dogs have since been safely repatriated to the United States.