A man who sailed a catamaran from Tahiti to Australia laden with $245 million worth of cocaine faces life in prison after being found guilty of the crime.
During his trial, Craig Lembke, a musician and part-time skipper for hire, always admitted he'd accepted the job to sail the Maltese-registered vessel Skarabej across the Pacific, but the 49-year-old denied ever knowing there were drugs on board.
A co-accused, Daniel Terence Percy, was acquitted by the jury.
In November 2017, police raided the vessel at Lake Macquarie, south of Newcastle, and found 700 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside its two hulls.
Syndicate members did not know that police were tracking the voyage while also recording the conversations of all those involved.
Lembke's lawyers told the jury he had not known what the boat was carrying, adding that he was not motivated by money but rather relied on part-time jobs that involved modelling and his passions of music and sailing.
The prosecution, however, said there was no way Lembke would not have known about the hidden haul, alleging that he stood to earn $500,000 from the importation.
A police informant told the jury that he didn't think Lembke knew about the drugs during the voyage, but said he'd heard a conversation in which Lembke was told he'd get paid the amount once he'd docked the vessel.
The jury found Lembke guilty of one charge of importing a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug — an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Members of his family looked shocked and upset as they left the court. Lembke will return to Newcastle District Court for sentencing in December.
Other syndicate members have already been jailed for their part in the importation.
Mr Percy was on trial for the same importation charge, after police alleged he was also in Tahiti and had arranged the paperwork for the vessel to sail.
He too denied knowing about the drugs on board.
