A “saviour” appeared in the form of another Nepalese man who offered him financial support.
The Court of Appeal, in a newly published decision, said it was “reasonable to assume that his financial support for Mr Maskey was part of manipulating him in his drug importation operation”.
Maskey was living in Mt Eden, Auckland at the time.
Between January and July 2022, Maskey helped import 1.576kg of cocaine.
He received or arranged for the receipt of six known packages that contained cocaine, mainly from the United Kingdom but also involving a supplier in Nepal.
The drug arrived concealed in items such as machinery parts, a motorcycle shock absorber, wood samples, melamine veneers and commercial catalogues.
For one shipment, Maskey had to extract the hidden cocaine package using an angle grinder.
Maskey began his drug-importing career as a low-level “catcher” but took on an organising role after his mentor left the country in April 2022.
By the time he was caught he was arranging and redirecting consignments, managing their collection and extraction, testing the cocaine’s purity and discussing how it should be cut with other substances before sale.
When police searched Maskey’s house, they found 219g of cocaine in a ziplock bag, other bags containing a white powder residue, and electronic scales.
Evidence from his phone showed he had been discussing the importation of drugs with the supplier in Nepal, along with photos of packages and contents, a purity testing kit, and consignment details and tracking numbers.
Maskey pleaded guilty to five charges of importing cocaine and in March last year he was sentenced in the Auckland District Court to six years and four months in prison.
He appealed against his sentence, and the Court of Appeal has now found that he should have received more discount for the “very human dynamic” at play in his case.
When he first met his mentor, Maskey was only 22 years old, so an “emerging adult”.
His fledgling business was clearly struggling and he was vulnerable to exploitation.
He was intent on winning his associate’s favour to secure financial investment.
“It was on that basis that he became involved [in the offending], perhaps initially blind to the serious consequences,” the appeal court justices said.
The Court of Appeal reduced Maskey’s sentence to five years and seven months in prison.
He will be deported when he has served his time.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.
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