A conspiracy to ship up to an estimated $90 million of cocaine from Peru to Australia via Port Moresby, which was ultimately busted by authorities, has been detailed in the Queensland Supreme court. The court was told international drug traffickers see the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea as a ‘softer target’ for smuggling drugs into the country.
It allegedly involved at least three men, who aimed to bring two shipments of up to 600kg of the drug into Australia through the Torres Strait in 2018. Because of historical cultural ties with the islands of the Torres Strait and PNG proper, there is a high level of small boat traffic and the aim was to take advantage of that. It was planned that the seized cocaine would be imported into Queensland via Port Moresby and Daru Island.
PNG national and former logistics worker Charles Wagambio, 38, pleaded guilty to trafficking and dealing with the proceeds of crime when facing court last week. His ability to deal corruptly and pay bribes to PNG customs officials was an aggravating feature in the case, because the country is closely associated to Australia and has a public service significantly funded by Australian taxpayers, the Crown prosecutor told the court.
The case was unusual because no drugs made it into Australia. When Wagambio inspected a first shipment, which was expected to come in containers of fruit products, he found that they were empty. He sent messages to his co-accused, who concluded the drugs had probably been stolen somewhere in South America.
They decided to import another container which would smuggle another 300kg of cocaine. However, on the second occasion the Peruvian national police arrested the criminal syndicate that included their contact, which resulted in the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
Wagambio was arrested after flying to Brisbane Airport in June 2018. Co-accused Paul Smith and Jeffrey John Sagar are yet to face committal over alleged links to the trafficking, the court was told.
As licensed Customs Brokers and International Freight Forwarders, Colless Young advises importers to be on guard against the possibility of being used by third parties involved in smuggling. Call us if you need to report anything suspicious. We are pleased to handle all legitimate import & export activities and cover all Australian ports and airports.
