Man pleads not guilty to trying to import $200 million worth of ice and cocaine into Sydney
AN ALLEGED aspiring drug lord has pleaded not guilty to trying to import $200 million worth of ice and cocaine into Sydney from Latin American cartels.
NSW
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AN ALLEGED aspiring drug lord has pleaded not guilty to trying to import $200 million worth of ice and cocaine into Sydney from Latin American cartels following a police sting in which it is claimed he was duped by an undercover cop
Epping man Leo Yan Lai Cheung is accused of being a ring leader in a failed plot to smuggle more than $200 million worth of illicit drugs into Australia.
MORE: FOUR MEN ARRESTED AS PART OF INTERNATIONAL DRUG SYNDICATE SMUGGLING ICE FROM MEXICO
He and South Australian Dimitrios “Jimmy” Gountounas were allegedly part of an international syndicate awaiting a shipment of 101kg of methamphetamine from Mexico and 500kg of cocaine from Colombia when police swooped.
Police have claimed the drugs were never destined to arrive because the ringleaders were dealing with an undercover officer who infiltrated the operation.
Meanwhile Mexican police intercepted the ice, understood to be from the notorious Sinaloa cartel, and swapped it with salt.
The pair were arrested last November and Cheung has been charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime and possessing suspected proceeds worth less than $100,000.
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The 40-year-old’s defence lawyer Hayden Woolf entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf in the Central Local Court on Wednesday.
Cheung did not apply for bail and it was formally refused, and he will face a committal hearing on September 3.
His co-accused Gountounas, 41, has also been charged with importing a commercial quantity drugs but did not enter a plea.
MORE: 2200 DRUG PLANTS FROM 10 SYDNEY SUBURBS DISCOVERED
Two other men, Cameron Fraser and Jason Kuerschnaer, were arrested at the Novotel Darling Harbour in November after travelling from Adelaide thinking they were delivering drugs, a police fact sheet alleged.
They’ve been charged with trafficking and possessing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and supplying large commercial drug supply.
The police operation involved agents from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Mexican and South Australian police and the US’s fearsome DEA.