Three men who deny involvement in the attempted importation of $73 million worth of drugs into Western Australia told police they were sailing around the remote Abrolhos Islands because they were on a "boys' trip" to snorkel, fish and "drink a few beers" together.
Angus Bruce Jackson, Jason Lassiter and Scott Felix Jones are on trial in the West Australian Supreme Court, accused of attempting to take possession of almost 900 kilograms of cocaine, methylamphetamine and MDMA that were found on an island off Geraldton in September 2019.
Prosecutor Darren Renton SC said authorities had gone to the area after receiving reports that a yacht called Zero had run aground.
While there was no sign of anybody near the vessel, there were indications a dinghy had been deployed off the back.
Mr Renton said fisheries officers later received reports of "someone wearing a colourful shirt" on a nearby island and, when they arrived there, they found a makeshift camp and as well as duffel bags, with the drugs inside, that had been partially covered with seaweed and rocks.
Two men were also found and taken back to Geraldton.
Boat crash foiled plans: prosecutor
Meanwhile, on another nearby island, a second vessel carrying the three accused had to be pulled off rocks by fishermen after it also ran aground, like the yacht.
Mr Renton said it was alleged that the three men were in the area as part of the drug-importation plan.
"It was part of a criminal venture to rendezvous with another vessel [the Zero] to collect precious cargo of border-controlled drugs," he told the court.
"The case is an attempted possession because, despite having done everything to prepare to take possession, they failed to meet up because they ran aground on a reef."
Mr Renton told the jury that evidence would be called linking the men to satellite phones alleged to have been used to try to arrange the handover of the drugs.
He said the phones were also linked to a man who lived the Isle of Jersey, and an analysis of call records indicated that, around the time the alleged importation was discovered, the man had sent text messages asking, "Where are you?" and "What's your position?"
The court heard the three men, who knew each other from Thailand, were arrested days later as they drove back to Perth.
When interviewed by police, they said they had gone to the Abrolhos Islands to snorkel, fish and drink, with one of them describing it as a "boys' trip" and another saying they were "cruising about, drinking a few beers".
They all denied knowing the two men who were found on the same island as the drugs.
All three men have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and deny knowing anything about the drugs nor having anything to do with their discovery.
Mr Lassiter's lawyer, David McCallum, said it was "no issue" that the three were mates and that they were in the area at the time, but he maintained they were having "a guys' trip".
Mr McCallum said that, while his client may have been near the scene of a crime, it did not make him guilty of a crime.
The trial is expected to run for about a month.
