Three men have been sentenced to significant jail time for their roles in a failed attempt to import 100kg of cocaine through Sydney Airport. The scheme involved trusted insiders who exploited their airport access, but their plan was ultimately thwarted by authorities.
The Downing Centre Local Court delivered the sentences on March 21, 2025. A former airline logistics manager from Mascot, aged 57, received a three-year sentence. Two co-conspirators, a 63-year-old man from Coogee and a 25-year-old Sydney resident, were sentenced to 10 years and two years and nine months, respectively.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) initiated an investigation in October 2022, prompted by an airline’s report of suspicious activity near the cargo hold of a flight arriving from Johannesburg. This investigation uncovered that the Mascot and Coogee men, leveraging their positions at Sydney Airport, were instrumental in facilitating the drug importation. The Sydney man was tasked with retrieving the cocaine from the airport for distribution within Australia.
All three individuals were convicted of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug (cocaine), violating section 307.1 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth), and possessing a commercial quantity of cocaine, contravening section 307.5 of the same code. The court proceedings for two additional individuals, allegedly connected to the same criminal syndicate, are ongoing.
AFP Detective Superintendent Peter Fogarty emphasized the commitment of the AFP and its partners to disrupting organized crime groups attempting to traffic illicit substances through Australian airports.
“Transnational serious organized crime groups routinely seek to exploit vulnerabilities at Australia’s gateways to the world, and the AFP, alongside our partners, are committed to exposing these syndicates and bringing them before the courts,” Det. Supt. Fogarty stated.
He further warned, “To anyone lured in by the false promise of shallow riches from drug importations – these offences carry the potential of life in jail. You are up against a well-resourced, capable and unrelenting opposition in the AFP and our partners.”
Det. Supt. Fogarty concluded by highlighting the operation’s success in preventing the significant harm that the large cocaine shipment would have inflicted upon the Australian community. “Operation Lucian spared Australians from the violence, addiction and further criminality this shipment of cocaine would have brought to our shores.”
24 March 2025
