A Papua New Guinea man has been sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment by a PNG court for organising an attempt to import almost 5kg of methamphetamine into Australia via the Torres Strait.
The man, 50, was arrested in Port Moresby on 1 December, 2023, following a Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) investigation that resulted in the arrest of five other people.
He was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment in the Daru District Court in PNG's Western Province on 12 October, 2024. He was earlier convicted of two charges of possessing and trafficking methamphetamine, contrary to the PNG Controlled Substances Act 2021.
The investigation began after information received by law enforcement suggested members of a criminal syndicate located in PNG were targeting Australia for drug importations.
This intelligence was further developed by the AFP and RPNGC, identifying a man and a woman suspected to be attempting to import the methamphetamine from PNG into Australia via boat to the remote Australian community of Bamaga, the main township in the Northern Peninsula Area of Cape York.
AFP Thursday Island Office shared this information to the RPNGC Transnational Crime Unit in Daru, via the AFP's International Command liaison post in Port Moresby, enabling the RPNGC to investigate the syndicate.
The RPNGC investigation resulted in the arrest of two men and one woman in Mabaduan, PNG, on 22 November, 2023. Information gathered during the arrests led to an additional two men being arrested in Daru, PNG, on 28 November, 2023.
The alleged organiser of the syndicate - the 50-year-old man - was arrested in Port Moresby on 1 December, 2023. It was alleged he was directing the activities of the other five people in trying to facilitate the importation, which could have been broken up into more than 50,000 individual street deals.
The five other people charged in this investigation have all been sentenced by PNG courts for their roles in this criminal syndicate. Four PNG men - aged 59, 56, 51 and 26 - were sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment. A PNG woman, 47, was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Pacific Nigel Ryan said the AFP's partnerships with police in PNG and the region were a crucial part of efforts to prevent organised crime profiting off the exploitation of Pacific and Australian communities.
"Organised crime groups have a misconception that some transit points or amounts of drugs are 'small enough' to get through, but they couldn't be more wrong," Assistant Commissioner Ryan said.
"The AFP prides itself on being agile and flexible to respond to organised crime trends, and this matter highlights how we are stronger when we work in partnership with our Pacific police partners to stop those pushing these horrendous drugs into and through our remote communities.
"We recognise the importance that timely, accurate and actionable intelligence can have for our colleagues in Papua New Guinea - and throughout the Pacific - and we remain committed to proactively taking the fight to all organised crime groups operating in the region."
