Trio’s wild cocaine mail-order plot
A group of men used fake mail addresses to have cocaine shipped from Serbia to Australia, with two exploiting their employment as courier drivers to enact the cunning scheme.
The Sydney trio – a 37-year-old from Pemulwuy, a 45-year-old from West Hoxton, and a 54-year-0ld from Homebush – have now been jailed for a combined 15 years for their role in the massive mail-order scheme to import 5kg of cocaine from Serbia.
The last of the trio was sentenced at Parramatta District Court on Friday.
It followed a major Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigation starting in September 2020.
In a statement the AFP said two of the men worked for courier services and would have the drugs shipped to fake addresses in Sydney.
They would then collect the drugs and pass them to a third man for distribution.
Searches of the men’s properties turned up about $67,000 in cash, drug paraphernalia, and numerous containers with traces of white powder.
“The parcels seized across all locations had identical packaging, concealment methods, and consignor and consignee details,” an AFP spokesman said.
“Police are working with international partners to identify the source of the drugs and anyone else involved.”
Last October, a 45-year-old West Hoxton man and 54-year-old Homebush man pleaded guilty at Parramatta District Court to charges of importing and trafficking a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug respectively.
The West Hoxton man was sentenced to four years and six months’ prison.
The Homebush man received a six-year jail term.
On Friday a Pemulwuy man, 37, pleaded guilty to importing a quantity of a border-controlled drug.
He was jailed for four years and seven months.
AFP Superintendent Morgen Blunden said the outcome should serve as a clear warning to criminals.
“While many airmail or air cargo imports may seem like relatively small amounts of illicit substances, combined they equate to millions of individual street deals and can cause significant harm,” said Superintendent Blunden.
“Illicit drug use also causes a significant burden to the Australian economy; the estimated total social costs for every kilogram of illicit drugs of cocaine is more than $640,000 through crime, loss of productivity, emergency treatment and increased health care costs.
“The community needs to be aware that their illicit drug use bankrolls violent transnational serious organised crime groups, who may also be involved in other abhorrent crimes such as human trafficking and sexual servitude.”
