Osman El-Houli on trial over alleged 400kg cocaine plot through Papua New Guinea, Far North Queensland

The Melbourne Mafia and a Colombian syndicate allegedly plotted to sneak 400 kilograms of cocaine into Queensland by plane - until it crashed, a court has heard.

Osman El-Houli outside Brisbane District Court on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Glenn Campbell

It was a plan that sounds like a Hollywood blockbuster, a court heard – the Melbourne Mafia and a Colombian syndicate allegedly plotted to sneak 400 kilograms of cocaine into Queensland by plane.

But the court heard it all unravelled when the aircraft crashed on takeoff near a remote Papua New Guinea airstrip in July 2020.

Osman El-Houli, a 35-year-old Melbourne man, is on trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court. He was allegedly paid to drive a truck from Melbourne to Mareeba in Far North Queensland to meet the drug plane when it landed and take the illegal load back to Melbourne.

Mr El-Houli has pleaded not guilty to one count of attempting to possess commercial quantities of unlawfully imported border controlled drugs.

Osman El-Houli leaves Brisbane Supreme Court on bail during the first day of his trial on Monday. He has pleaded not guilty. Photo: Glenn Campbell/NCA NewsWire.

Crown prosecutor Daniel Caruana told the court on Monday that Mr El-Houli set out from Melbourne in his truck about 6pm on July 22, 2020. The court heard he picked up a co-driver on the way. They reached Atherton, just south of Mareeba, in the state’s Far North on July 25.

The next day, a Cessna 402C plane took off from Mareeba and landed at a remote PNG airstrip later that day. The court heard it was loaded with 548 kilograms of packages allegedly containing 404 kilograms of pure cocaine – with an estimated street value of $80 million.

When it crashed on take off, those on the ground unloaded the packages and hid them in mangroves before fleeing the scene, the court heard. PNG police allegedly found the drugs six days later.

The crash scene just outside Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. Photo: Deni ToKunai via Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary.

The alleged pilot handed himself in at the Australian consulate and was charged. Police also arrested and charged several alleged syndicate members in Australia.

Mr El-Houli was arrested on the Kennedy Highway between Mareeba and Atherton after local police found him and his co-driver sitting in the vehicle on the roadside.

Mr Caruana said the truck was allegedly carrying pallets of plasterboard which had holes cut inside them, designed for concealment.

Mr Caruana said Mr El-Houli told officers on the roadside that he was paid “a lousy $10,000” to “pick up some money” in Queensland.

When interviewed at Cairns police station, Mr El-Houli said “he didn’t believe he was doing anything wrong” and “he didn’t know he was collecting drugs”.

He also told detectives he met a man while doing a delivery who gave him a job to collect “some bags”. Mr El-Houli said he was told no drugs were involved.

Mr El-Houli claims he did not know about the concealment spaces in the plasterboard pallets until he got a phone call while he was driving to Queensland. He claims he was again told he would be collecting “bags of cash”.

The court heard Mr El-Houli told the same story to an undercover police officer wearing a recording device who was put in a cell with him at Cairns police station.

The alleged cocaine packages recovered from mangroves in PNG. Photo: AFP - Supplied.

Defence barrister Tony Kimmins told the jury on Monday that his client has no prior criminal history and had a history working in security and freight.

“You will hear effectively a lot of evidence which you may well think could be the script of some American movie,” Mr Kimmins said.

“You will hear that it is believed by the authorities that this particular operation was in fact run by a consortium of a Columbian syndicate and Melbourne Mafia identities.”

Mr Kimmins said Mr El-Houli had been consistent in his explanations to authorities that he did not know he was collecting drugs and he was only told about the concealment holes in the plasterboard pallets when he was well into his journey.

“This trial revolves around whether the prosecution has established beyond reasonable doubt that Ozzy (Mr El-Houli) had knowledge or an intention to go to North Queensland to pick up a border-controlled drug and transport that to Melbourne,” Mr Kimmins told the jury.

The trial continues on Tuesday.