A Sydney man accused of being involved in an elaborate multimillion-dollar cocaine smuggling operation using a live export boat off the West Australian coast claims he was only in Perth to help save a friend who had become “stranded” in a regional town.
Police allege the then-19-year-old man, whose identity is suppressed, and his co-accused were tasked with picking up half a tonne of cocaine that had been dumped at sea by a livestock carrier in November.
During his bail application in the Supreme Court of Western Australia last week, the court was told his flights and accommodation was paid for when he and another man picked up a Ford Ranger from Perth Airport and drove to Two Rocks in Perth’s north, and picked up a boat.
The cocaine blocks had allegedly been dumped off the coast by a Brazilian live export ship bound for Fremantle port, and were kept afloat using barrels and containers with a GPS attached to them to track the product’s movements.
The court was told the man and his co-accused went out to sea a number of times in a borrowed boat, and CCTV footage allegedly captured them loading three bags matching the description of the cocaine left at sea into the rear tray of their hire car.
On one of their trips out to sea, the group ran into trouble and had to be picked up by the local marine rescue group.
They reportedly told attending authorities had been trying to rescue their friend who had become “stranded” in Guilderton, a river system north of Perth, and were released without charge.
Three days after the rescue, fishermen discovered the blocks of cocaine tied to drums off the coast of WA and an arrest warrant was issued for the 19-year-old about a week later.
The man had gone back to New South Wales after the incident and had to be extradited to WA, where he and five other men were charged with serious drug smuggling offences.
His lawyer applied for bail on the ground the case against his client was purely circumstantial, and he denies he had any knowledge he was dealing with drugs.
In a decision published on Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Matthew Howard said he acknowledged the man’s defence and said it had yet to be tested.
However, he said the prosecution’s case appeared to be strong.
“The circumstances of the applicant’s travel to the state, his activities immediately upon landing and at Two Rocks, and at the Two Rocks Marina with the … boat, do not immediately speak of either a holiday or rescuing somebody at Guilderton,” he said.
“While it may be accepted that knowledge remains a live issue, matters such as the [a GPS watch] located on the applicant by the police, the timing and frequency of the trips on the red boat and the circumstances of the applicant’s arriving in the state strongly suggest, at least, that the applicant knew that he was involved in picking up something illegal or which needed to be concealed.
“Of course, that does not necessarily mean that the Crown would succeed in this charge.”
The court was told the man did not have a criminal record, aside from a drug charge when he was a child, and he had complex health needs that would be difficult to manage in custody.
He was granted bail with strict conditions, and was told he would need to live at his mother’s house in New South Wales and provide a surety of $400,000.
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