A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment over the failed importation of 252 grams of methamphetamine from the United States into Western Australia.
The Dianella man had pleaded guilty to attempting to possess the illicit drugs, worth approximately $250,000, and which had been concealed in a toy llama packaged as a Christmas present.
He was sentenced by the Western Australia District Court last week (25 November 2021) to five years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of three years.
An investigation into the drug importation was launched after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers at the New South Wales mail facility examined the package on 3 January 2021, and found a white crystalline substance concealed in the toy llama.
The substance returned a positive presumptive test for methamphetamine, and the matter was referred to the Australian Federal Police.
AFP officers replaced the illicit drugs with a harmless substance before delivering the package to a Leeming property on 12 January, where the 26-year-old accepted the delivery.
The man took the package back to his Dianella home, where he ripped open the stuffed toy to access the illicit drugs he expected to find inside.
Police say he then set some of the contents of the package on fire. When police executed a search warrant at the man's home later that morning, they found the burnt remains of some items in a backyard fire, while the card and other items from the package were in his bedroom. Media release on the arrest here.
