Six men involved in one of Australia’s biggest drug busts, which was foiled when police substituted 2.4 tonnes of cocaine for plaster of Paris, have been jailed, with the prosecutor describing the operation as a “comedy of errors”.<\/p>\n
The cocaine was destined for Australia but intercepted off the South American coast by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2022.<\/p>\n
The DEA believed the cocaine was being shipped by a Mexican drug cartel, and after Australian authorities were tipped off, plans were put in place to pretend the illicit load was still on its way.<\/p>\n
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WA Police dropped more than a tonne of substituted material off the coast of Perth and waited.<\/p>\n
Multiple arrests were made at the end of December 2022, after the fake drugs were pulled up from the ocean and brought to Hillarys Boat Harbour.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Drone footage of the two boats seized as part of the major drug bust. (Supplied: WA Police\u00a0)<\/p>\n
But with two boats coming to grief and 30 hours wasted at sea looking for what the men thought would be a massive cocaine haul, the illegal drug importation was characterised by the prosecutor as a “comedy of errors”.<\/p>\n
“It was a shambles, it was a disaster,” Judge Linda Black said.<\/p>\n
“All of you were fools who got in way over your heads.”<\/p>\n
If they were successful, the men thought they would be bringing cocaine with an estimated value of at least $300 million to shore. At the time, it was described as Australia’s biggest drug bust.<\/p>\n
Guilty pleas<\/p>\n
The six men sentenced on Friday were due to go on trial this week, but all of them had pleaded guilty.<\/p>\n
Isaac Henry Rabuatoka, Filipe Valesu, Paul Masterson, Reremoana-Kahui Patrick Stanley, William Seru and Laban Saininaivalu had admitted to attempted possession of cocaine with intent to sell or supply.<\/p>\n
All are in their 20s or 30s, except for Masterson, who is now 70.<\/p>\n
Three others who were involved in the ocean retrieval had already pleaded guilty and had been sentenced in circumstances that were suppressed until now.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cash seized from a vehicle in Coolgardie as part of a WA Police drugs bust.\u00a0 (Supplied: WA Police\u00a0)<\/p>\n
Most of the nine had come to WA from interstate and the Northern Territory, with only one man being a West Australian.<\/p>\n
The court heard some of them had set out on a boat called Catalina to find the large package of “bricks” but could not locate it.<\/p>\n
Saininaivalu, Seru and Stanley went out on a smaller boat called Cool Runnings, and pulled up a package weighing more than a tonne.<\/p>\n
But that boat beached near Moore River, north of Perth, and despite assistance from unknowing members of the public who tried to help push it out, it remained stuck.<\/p>\n
Saininaivalu, Seru and Stanley were arrested by police who had them under surveillance.<\/p>\n
Others on the Catalina set out to find Cool Runnings and towed it into open water.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cool Runnings was used in an attempt to retrieve several tonnes of cocaine from the ocean. (Supplied: WA Police\u00a0)<\/p>\n
The fake drugs were transferred to Catalina and the smaller boat was sunk, along with some packaging items after the bales were broken down.<\/p>\n
But back at Hillarys Boat Harbour, Catalina hit a rock wall because Masterson was the only one who knew how to pilot the boat and the then 67-year-old was in a hotel with a bad back.<\/p>\n
‘Puppets’ paid the price<\/p>\n
The men had organised to put the fake drugs into eskies bought at Bunnings but they were soon all arrested.<\/p>\n
Valesu was given 11 years, Rabuatoka and Masterson 10 years, Stanley eight years, Seru six years and Saininaivalu five.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Michael Cvetkoski described those at the top of the trafficking operation as “puppeteers” who used the six men as “puppets”.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Michael Cvetkoski said the six men had been used as “puppets”. (ABC News: David Weber)<\/p>\n
He said the “parasitic” nature of drug cartels meant that those who took all the risk were the ones who paid the penalties.<\/p>\n
Mr Cvetkoski said the men were each expecting tens of thousands of dollars for their roles, and there needed to be a strong message that the reward of “quick money” was not worth it and would instead result in a “stinging sentence”.<\/p>\n
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