This is a joint media release between Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force and Western Australia Police Force
A 46-year-old Perth man was sentenced to 15 years jail by the Western Australia Supreme Court last week (Thursday 9 April) over his attempt to possess 45.6 kilograms of methamphetamine imported into the State in June 2016.
The man denied being involved in the plot but was convicted in February 2020 of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug after a two-week jury trial.
The drugs had been hidden inside timber in a sea container shipped from Nigeria, and an investigation was launched after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers detected the illicit consignment.
Australian Federal Police (AFP), with the assistance of ABF and Western Australia Police Force, substituted 107 packages of methamphetamine with an inert substance, placed these packages into the timber beams and watched as the container was delivered to a Baldivis property.
The 46-year-old man was arrested in the early hours of 26 June 2016 as he tried to collect the methamphetamine – worth an estimated $26.4 million – from the semi-rural site.
Further inquiries under Operation Macaskin identified a then 29-year-old Victorian man as being involved in organising the illicit shipment.
He also pleaded not guilty at trial, but in April 2018 was convicted of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug after a seven-day trial in the WA Supreme Court. He was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 11 years.
The 46-year-old will be eligible for parole in January 2028.
