Keenan Mickley was on top of the world. Having taken home an in-house customer service award, the 48-year-old mortgage broker from Cromer on Sydney’s northern beaches was cheering.
“LJ Hooker Home Loans – conference and awards night, went off with a BANG. Proud to be nominated for 4 Awards,” he wrote on LinkedIn last month.
Police watched as Keenan Mickley and his son Taj allegedly attempted to access cocaine hidden in a generator.
The good times were not to last; four weeks later, Mickley and 24-year-old son Taj Mickley have been arrested and charged over the alleged audacious plot to import 50 kilograms of cocaine from Vietnam and face life imprisonment.
Ahead of the elder Mickley’s Supreme Court bail application, the Herald can reveal the mortgage broker allegedly used a former client’s details on shipping paperwork for a generator with $16 million worth of cocaine hidden in its base.
Investigators also allegedly discovered the client’s identification information inside the northern beaches storage unit where the father and son were arrested last month.
Documents seen by this masthead describe a problem-plagued series of events that began in May when the father and son travelled to Ho Chi Minh City for five days.
Ten days after their return, Keenan Mickley allegedly shelled out for a two-year lease on a $35,000-a-year storage unit in Cromer.
In July, Border Force officials at Port Botany examining sea cargo noticed something amiss with the shipment. Officers removed what they will say was 50 kilograms of cocaine, replacing it with a surveillance device and sending the shipment on to Hai Son Shipping and Transport in Revesby.
The consignment later failed a quarantine inspection and was taken to a facility for cleaning before being released back to the freighting company.
As the Mickleys awaited arrival of their cargo, records allegedly show Taj using encrypted app Threema to discuss sale of the cocaine.
“Yeah bro,” the younger Mickley allegedly responded when asked by an unknown person if he was keeping four kilograms of the shipment.
“Okay got ya,” was his alleged reply when told to increase the price per ounce.
Several days later, Taj allegedly broke the bad news of a delay.
“Yo the f---in truck broke down ... It’s here Monday, will send photos once cracked.”
AFP officers were watching as the Mickleys arrived at the storage unit on an overcast September morning and unloaded the generator with a forklift.
Half an hour later, Keenan Mickley used the encrypted messaging app Signal to contact a user named soloandas67.
“All good brother – about to get to work. Side panels of base right?”
He would not see the response. After trips to Bunnings Narrabeen for angle grinders and blades, father and son were arrested by AFP officers outside the storage unit and charged with jointly attempting to possess a commercial quantity of cocaine.
Taj Mickley will re-appear in court later this month, and Keenan Mickley will next month attempt to convince the Supreme Court to grant him conditional freedom.
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