SYDNEY, Apr 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) – An Australian man is sentenced to 15 years jail, over his involvement in a multi-million dollar shipment of methamphetamine in 2016, Australian Federal Police said today.
The drugs arrived in the country, concealed within a shipping container of timber — all up weighing 45.6 kilograms and carrying an estimated street value of 26.4 million Australian dollars (16.9 million U.S. dollars).
After uncovering the shipment in Jun, 2016, police replaced the 107 packages with an inert substance and allowed them to be delivered to their intended destination.
Upon being delivered to a semi-rural property belonging to the man, the 46-year-old attempted to access the packages at which point police arrested him.
While the man maintains he was not involved in the plot to import the drugs, last week a Western Australian court found him guilty of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and sentenced him to 15 years. He will be eligible for parole in 2028.
Further inquiries identified a then 29-year-old Victorian man, as being involved in organising the illicit shipment.
He also pleaded not guilty at the trial, but in Apr, 2018, was convicted of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and sentenced to 16 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 11 years.
