Four men have been sentenced to jail terms of between 22 and 33 years over the importation of a tonne of drugs – worth up to $184 million – that were discovered on a tiny island off the coast of Western Australia.
The drugs were initially loaded onto a yacht called the Zero, off the coast of South Africa and then brought to WA where the vessel ran aground in the Abrolhos Islands, off the coast of Geraldton, in September 2019.
The two men on the yacht, including 37-year-old UK man Graham Palmer, then transferred the cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy to one of the islands where they were meant to be picked up by another vessel, with three men on board.
However that vessel also ran aground and the rendezvous never happened, because local fisherman saw the Zero stuck on a reef and alerted authorities who later found the two men trying to hide on the barren island.
Police also found 40 duffel bags, containing individually wrapped packages of drugs, hidden under seaweed.
Palmer and his accomplice were arrested, while the three men on the other boat, American Jason Lassiter, 47, Angus Jackson, 53, from New South Wales and British man Scott Jones, 38, were arrested days later in Perth.
Palmer pleaded guilty to importing the drugs, while the other three men were convicted by a jury after a lengthy trial.
On Friday in the Supreme Court, Jackson and Lassiter were sentenced to 33 years jail, with a non-parole period of 23 years, while Jones was handed a 25-year sentence, with a 17-year minimum.
Palmer, whom the judge accepted did not know about the importation until the morning the drugs were loaded onto the Zero, was given a 22-year sentence with an non-parole period of 15 years.
The men's sentences were backdated to the time of their arrest in September 2019, and Lassiter, Jones and Palmer are likely to be deported when they are released.
Operation beset by bungles
The importation was beset by a series of bungles that included not only the two vessels running aground, but the accidental audio recording of the loading of the drugs onto the Zero off the coast of South Africa.
The recording was played in court, and the two men on board could be heard talking about the large quantity of the drugs which they referred to as cocaine and ice.
Supreme Court Justice Michael Corboy said the case demonstrated the difficulty in detecting drug importations noting that it would not have been discovered, if not for the two vessels running aground.
He described the quantity of drugs involved as "massive".
The court was told the purity of the drugs was high, and their value anywhere between $56 million and $184 million.
Justice Corboy said while the men were not the organisers of the drug smuggling operation, they had played the role of couriers in what he called a "highly sophisticated" importation.
A fifth man, a Frenchman who was the captain of the Zero, is yet to be sentenced.
