100kg of ice smuggled into Queensland on houseboats, court told

AN ALLEGED drug kingpin has been accused of selling more than 100kg of ice in southeast Queensland smuggled in on houseboats, a court has heard.

Ngoc Tang Phan allegedly told dealer Luke Perrett the ice they were ­selling was purchased from Phan’s Vietnamese “uncle”, who smuggled it in from China.

MORE than 100kg of the drug ice sold in southeast Queensland could have been smuggled from China hidden in houseboats, a court has heard.

A high-level dealer turned rollover witness has told police that alleged kingpin Ngoc Tang Phan, 35, from Norman Park, sold $18.5 million worth of ice in the past four years.

Cafe owner Luke Perrett, 38, from Gatton, told police that Phan, known as “T”, told him the ice they were ­selling was purchased from Phan’s Vietnamese “uncle” in Sydney who smuggled ice from China every “two or three months”.

“I’m not sure if uncle is actually (Phan’s) real uncle or if he just calls him uncle,” Perrett told police.

Perrett’s police statement was tendered by prosecutors in the Supreme Court on April 5 as part of their successful bid to revoke his bail on charges of trafficking and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Perrett, who was known by his codename “Waterboy” by other drug runners, said Phan showed him photos of houseboats and implied the drugs were hidden on houseboats imported from China, possibly via New Caledonia.

“T ... has a big tattoo on his back, maybe of a fish or a dragon ... he had a big diamond earring in his left ear,” Perrett said.

“I know that he was the boss of the supply chain and he was who I went to when I had any quality issues, price issues or supply issues,” Perrett told police.

Perrett said T’s underlings would drive to Sydney to collect the drugs.

The ice came in zip-locked bags, wrapped in newspaper, sprinkled in peppercorns and vacuum-packed, he said. Once in Brisbane, Perrett hired drivers to deliver the drugs to Brisbane suburbs.

Drugs were hidden in secret compartments in the glovebox or next to the fuel tank of regular sedans and 4WDs. His drivers drove during the day to avoid raising suspicion.

Perrett told police he estimated that driver Adam Johns, 35, from Redbank Creek near Esk, “delivered approximately 30kg of ice and collected approximately $6.5 million over the course of nine months”.

Perrett and Johns have been charged with trafficking.