Couple whose drug trafficking trial changed state law sentenced over 200L of fantasy

A couple whose drug conviction was overturned because of a loophole in state law have been sentenced for attempting to traffic 200L of the drug fantasy.

A couple who attempted to traffic 200L of fantasy into the state, and subsequently exposed a loophole in state legislation that was later closed by state parliament, have been sentenced.

The duo, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, appeared in the District Court on Wednesday where they were sentenced for attempting to traffic 200L of the drug fantasy, worth half a million dollars, into the state.

In sentencing on Wednesday, Judge Paul Muscat said the pair, who were a couple at the time, ordered the fantasy on eBay from China.

“On the 30th of December 2018, the consignment of the 200L of (fantasy) arrived in Australia from China,” he said.

“The consignment was deemed to be suspicious and the 200L of (fantasy) was removed from the containers and substituted with water.”

Judge Muscat said police then monitored the couple after they picked up the containers from a location just outside of the Adelaide Hills on February 7, 2019.

The woman was arrested at a property in the Adelaide Hills while the man was later arrested after he was observed distributing the crates throughout Adelaide.

“This was clearly a commercially motivated enterprise,” Judge Muscat said.

“I also accept that you (the man) played an important and significant role, you arranged for the drugs to be delivered to others to distribute after it was delivered.”

The pair originally pleaded not guilty to the more significant charge of trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs and stood trial in the District Court where a jury found them guilty.

Large blue containers which originally held half a million dollars worth of fantasy. Picture: District Court

Large blue containers which originally held half a million dollars worth of fantasy. Picture: District Court

During the trial, a man, who was later arrested for contempt for being paid to interrupt the trial, stood up and shouted “just because (the man) is a dealer and he has been in jail and he’s a full club member doesn’t mean he’s guilty”.

Judge Gordon Barrett closed the court for the rest of the hearings, but did not allow a mistrial as requested by lawyers for the accused.

The sentence was later overturned by the Court of Appeal who ruled that because SA legislation did not have a quantity for “pure” forms of more than a hundred drugs, people in possession of pure quantities could not be convicted of trafficking large commercial and commercial quantities of the drugs.

This led to the legislation being overturned in September 2022 meaning more serious charges for drug traffickers pushing “pure” quantities of hundreds of drugs will now face drug trafficking charges.

Attorney-General Kyam Maher said at the time the government moved as quickly as possible to close the loophole.

“Without these changes, authorities would be unable to charge people involved with certain large-scale drug trafficking operations with offences that acknowledge the seriousness of the offending,” he said.

“Most importantly, these laws are retrospective to avoid the potential for appeals in relation to historic matters.”

The couple later pleaded guilty to attempting to traffic a commercial quantity of a controlled drug.

The woman was sentenced to two years, seven months and three days imprisonment with a non-parole period of one month. The sentence was suspended upon the woman entering a bond to be of good behaviour for one year.

The man was sentenced to four years and five months imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years, two months and 13 days. The sentence was backdated to February 2022.