Two men have been sentenced by Downing Centre District Court today (25 March, 2025) for their roles in a failed 42kg cocaine importation in 2023.
A Tahmoor man, 22, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years. The Kirrawee man, also 22, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, to be released immediately on a Commonwealth Recognisance Release Order to be of good behaviour for three years.
The AFP launched an investigation in July, 2023, after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers detected 42 blocks of white powder concealed in the engine of a refrigerated container that arrived into Port Botany, NSW, on a ship from Panama.
Subsequent forensic testing established it was 34kg of pure cocaine, which AFP forensic specialists replaced with an inert substance.
A few days later three men were captured on security footage breaking into the logistics park where the container was held. They transferred the substituted packages into black bags.
Police arrested the three men a short time later on a nearby street. The third man, 22, pleaded guilty in late 2024 and is expected to be sentenced on 13 June, 2025.
The men each pleaded guilty to the following offences when they appeared in court in 2024:
- One count of attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, namely cocaine, contrary to sections 307.1(1) and 11.1(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth); and
- One count of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported border-controlled drugs, namely cocaine, contrary to sections 307.5(1) and 11.1 of the Criminal Code (Cth).
AFP Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy said the seized cocaine - worth an estimated $13 million - would have equated to about 210,000 street-level deals.
"Trafficking cocaine and other illicit drugs destroy lives, damages communities and fuels violence," Det Supt Cressy said.
"Criminals are indifferent to the harm they cause and will go to great lengths to fill their pockets.
"The AFP and its law enforcement partners are relentless in the pursuit to put drug traffickers before the courts to face justice."
ABF Superintendent Geoff Quinn said criminal syndicates continued to try creative and risky concealment methods to sneak drugs into the country.
"Concealments within the container itself is not a new methodology - ABF officers examine each consignment as a whole, looking within the walls, cavities, anywhere that someone could attempt to exploit a vulnerability," Supt Quinn said.
"ABF officers work closely with all law enforcement partners to assess certain threats and pass on intelligence which brings these syndicates' sneaky tactics to a halt."
