An outlaw motorcycle gang member and his wife who conspired to traffic drugs across Bass Strait have been sentenced to more than seven years behind bars.
Fahed Elniz, a one-time "nomad" member of the Bandidos who was in charge of security and discipline, attended the opening of the Hobart chapter of the gang in 2019.
The 50-year-old and his then wife Tracy Elniz, 49, conspired with six other people to traffic methamphetamine and cocaine into Tasmania over several months in 2019.
The four trips, including one on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry, involved up to $1.2 million worth of the drugs.
The pair had an influential role in bringing illegal drugs into the state which were sourced "higher up the chain", Supreme Court of Tasmania Justice David Porter said during sentencing.
They were arrested and charged in 2020 during large-scale raids involving local and federal police at a sleepy coastal town in southern Tasmania.
Both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to traffic an illicit substance.
Fahed Elniz, who has six children and nine grandchildren, joined the Bandidos because he was drawn to the "brotherhood" and had an interest in motorcycles, Justice Porter said.
The pair moved to Tasmania in 2019 to pursue a fishing business after getting into financial troubles on the mainland.
Tracy Elniz's offending was a direct result of drug debts in the Victorian town of Echuca.
Justice Porter said they had good prospects of rehabilitation, despite both having prior convictions involving drugs.
Several members of their family were in court for the sentencing.
Fahed, who grew up in Campbelltown in Sydney, has experienced difficulties in prison and has been unable to practise his religion.
Justice Porter noted the conspiracy to traffic drugs was only ended because of police action.
"Methamphetamine is a very damaging and harmful drug in several different ways," he said.
The pair will be eligible for parole after serving half of their seven-year-and-six-month prison sentence.
