Tyng-Yeu Yan: Brisbane drug courier avoids jail after 90kg bust

A Brisbane man has narrowly avoided jail after transporting 90kg of drugs into Queensland on domestic flights in a bid to make quick money, a court heard.

A Brisbane man has narrowly avoided jail after transporting 90kg of drugs into Queensland on domestic flights in a bid to make quick money, a court heard.

Salisbury man Tyng-Yeu Yan, 30, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Wednesday to five counts of possessing dangerous drugs, and one count of possession of suspected tainted property.

The court heard Yan was acting as a paid courier to transport 90kg of cannabis into Queensland over five occasions between November 22 and December 23 in 2019.

The precise amounts on each occasion were not particularised but on the last occasion he was found with 18.19kg of cannabis.

The court heard Yan was picked up when an X-ray scanner at the Brisbane Airport identified the packages in his suitcases on December 23, 2019.

Tyng-Yeu Yan. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

Police the. executed a search warrant at a share house Yan lived at in South Brisbane and found $22,900 in his room and boarding passes he had obtained using aliases.

Yan’s lawyer told the court his client Was born in Taiwan and he had a difficult childhood after he arrived in Australia and his parents separated.

He said Yan had struggled from having a lack of purpose and focus in his life.

He said his client was seeking to make money quickly by gambling and got involved in transporting cannabis for cash.

Since his offending, he said Yan had found employment in the financial services industry and started working with the charity Brothers In Need.

The court heard Yan had a limited criminal history with two breach of bail offences.

Judge McDonnell sentenced him to four years imprisonment suspended for a period for four and a half years.