A MAN accused of attempting to collect a package he thought contained 21 kilograms of methamphetamine from a property at Bulga was allegedly found with details of a fake identity written on his hand.
Luke Caban, 39, on Monday pleaded not guilty to attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and faced the first day of a trial in Newcastle District Court.
Commonwealth prosecutors say the case against Caban is circumstantial and there is no direct evidence showing him opening the package.
But they say the 39-year-old either knew or must have been aware that a consignment of portable power stations that arrived by sea from Spain in January last year contained drugs and he then "did everything he could in order to obtain possession of that item".
They say that includes waiting out the front of the property at Bulga when the package was delivered on February 5, using a fake name, signing for the consignment and being at the back of the truck ready to take possession of it when he was arrested.
One of the issues in the trial is expected to be whether Caban knew the package contained a border-controlled drug, prosecutors said.
The jury heard on Monday that in January last year Australian Border Force (ABF) officers at Port Botany inspected a consignment purporting to contain three portable power stations.
The package, which arrived by sea from Spain, was addressed to an address in Bulga, outside Singleton.
But when an ABF narcotic detection dog "sat down", indicating the presence of drugs, officers x-rayed the package and found a number of "anomalies consistent with some sort of concealment".
The ABF opened the package and found 51 white blocks of compressed crystalline substance, which testing later revealed was methamphetamine with a purity of 80 per cent.
The ABF handed over the package to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), who launched an operation to reconstruct the package with fake drugs and make the delivery to the property at Bulga.
An AFP officer was communicating with a person purporting to be the recipient and on February 6 police were told a "Brian Hemming" was coming to collect the package.
Prosecutors allege it was Caban, using the fake name Brian Hemming, who met AFP officers driving the delivery truck outside the property at Bulga on February 5.
They say Caban confirmed his name was Brian, but when asked to spell his surname he looked at the palm of his hand.
Prosecutors allege Caban signed for the package and followed the driver to the back of the truck when he was arrested by a number of AFP officers who emerged from inside.
Caban was restrained, but prosecutors allege that an AFP officer saw him "doing things with his hands" and took a number of photos of what was written on his left hand, including the name "Brian Hemming".
Police searched the property at Bulga and a house at Hunterview and allegedly uncovered phones, a driver's licence in Caban's name, SIM cards and drugs.
"The Crown case is that at least by February 6, the accused had been provided with the false details and false name for the consignment," prosecutors told the jury.
"He intentionally attempted to possess the consignment and signed for it and either he knew it contained drugs or he was at least aware there was a substantial risk that the delivery contained drugs."
The trial, before Judge Paul Marr, continues.
