The final player in a bungled attempt to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of drugs with an estimated value of up to $185 million into Western Australia has been sentenced to 26 years in jail.
Frenchman Antoine Dicenta, who turned 55 last Friday, is the fifth and final man to be jailed over the massive haul, which was discovered on a tiny island in the Houtman Abrolhos archipelago, off the coast of Geraldton, in September 2019.
Law enforcement agencies had no idea the cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy was being smuggled into the country, but the attempt was exposed after a series of mishaps, including an accidental phone recording, two boats running aground and a giant seal.
The smuggling attempt started off the eastern coast of South Africa in July 2019, when Dicenta, who was skippering a boat called the Zero, collected the drugs from another vessel.
Drug plot plagued with problems
The yacht, with Dicenta and crewman Graham Palmer on board, then made its way to Australia's west coast as part of a plan to rendezvous with another vessel that was going to collect the drugs.
But before that could happen, Dicenta fell asleep while steering the vessel around the Abrolhos Islands, and the Zero ran aground.
There were then frantic attempts to contact the other boat, but unbeknown to Dicenta and Palmer, it too had run aground on another island.
Dicenta and Palmer then decided to move the 40 duffel bags of drugs onto Burton Island, where they attempted to hide them by covering them with seaweed.
The two men remained on the island for about 24 hours before they and the drugs were discovered by searchers, who had been alerted by a local fisherman after he saw the Zero washed up on rocks and was concerned for its crew.
Valiant seal foils escape
According to a vice commander of the local volunteer marine rescue service, attempts by Dicenta and Palmer to flee from the authorities were foiled by a giant seal.
"They woke up and it jumped with its big chest out and bellowed at them," Damien Healy told ABC Radio.
"The guys basically had the choice of going through the seal or getting arrested, and they ended up choosing to get arrested."
An analysis of the contents of the duffel bags revealed that they contained 380.5 kilograms of cocaine, 344.2 kilograms of MDMA, or ecstasy, and 171.2 kilograms of methamphetamine.
The WA Supreme Court was told the value of the drugs was estimated to be anywhere between $52 and $185 million.
Dicenta and Palmer initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of importing a commercial quantity of border-controlled drugs.
Pocket dial lands smugglers in hot water
At the start of their trial in 2022, prosecutors played what appeared to be an accidental recording, made by Dicenta, of the drugs being transferred onto the Zero off the coast of South Africa.
He had earlier been using his mobile phone to video two whales swimming nearby, but the recording then continued and captured Dicenta and Palmer discussing the large quantity of the drugs.
"What the f***? How many ? F***ing hell," the men were heard saying.
They also mentioned the words "cocaine" and "ice".
The phone containing the recording had been seized when the two men were arrested and after it was played, following legal advice, both changed their pleas to guilty.
The court heard that during their journey across the Indian Ocean, Dicenta and Palmer had been communicating via satellite phones with a person called "Karl" and another man named John Roy.
The two men were alleged to have been the organisers of the attempted importation.
While the identity of Karl is a mystery, John Roy is a convicted drug smuggler who is serving a jail sentence in the United Kingdom for importing cocaine, MDMA and cannabis into Jersey.
Hefty sentences for those involved
The three men on board the other vessel, which was meant to have met up with the Zero, were last year sentenced to jail terms of between 25 and 33 years.
Palmer was sentenced at the same time to 22 years, with a non-parole period of 15 years.
Dicenta's sentencing was delayed until today, because he made an unsuccessful attempt to change his plea back to not guilty.
He claimed his part in the drug smuggling operation had occurred under duress, because threats were made to kill him and members of his family if he did not take part.
Australia vulnerable: judge
Today, Justice Michael Corboy accepted that Dicenta had taken part in the smuggling operation in part out of fear for himself and his family, but he said there had been ample time for him to have reported what was happening to law enforcement agencies.
Justice Corboy described the quantity of drugs involved as "massive" and said the attempted importation illustrated how vulnerable Australia was, with its vast, remote coastline, to large drug smuggling operations.
He said Dicenta had played a key role in the plan, including navigating a hazardous voyage across the Indian Ocean, and a sentence that deterred others was necessary.
As part of his 26-year jail sentence, Dicenta will have to serve 18 years behind bars before he can be considered for release on parole.
