Aukuso Junior Paulo: Ex NRL Parramatta Eels prop faces life sentence
He once plied his trade in front of thousands of adoring fans. But Aukuso Junior Paulo’s life took a dark turn when he arrived at Centennial Park with a pistol and $650k cash to complete a massive drug deal. He now faces a life sentence behind bars.
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An ex-NRL enforcer arrested amid a hail of non-lethal bullets in Centennial Park over a one-tonne cocaine plot faces life behind bars, a court has heard.
Former Parramatta Eels prop Aukuso Junior Paulo, who played his last first-grade game in 2008, will have to wait another month to learn his fate after a sentence hearing was adjourned on Friday.
The giant 36-year-old was last year convicted of commercial drug supply, dealing with the proceeds of crime, participating in a criminal group and two counts of gun possession following a police sting targeting a mystery crime kingpin known only as Peking Duck.
The charge of supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug carries a maximum life sentence and 15 year non-parole period.
The District Court heard “Mr Duck”, who organised to buy 900kg of cocaine for $1 million from an undercover cop, ordered Paulo and his “shadow” Kigi Kamuta to attend the drop on December 13, 2017.
The 500kg of cocaine the two parties had agreed to exchange that day didn’t arrive - in fact there is some debate as to whether the drugs existed at all.
But former Australian Schoolboys representative Paulo and Kamuta did arrive, armed with loaded Smith & Wesson and Beretta pistols and $650,000 in cash, intending to complete the brazen daylight deal.
Instead shocked families watched on as tactical police officers opened fire at the windscreen of their Thrifty hire-van, arresting the duo who have been behind bars ever since.
Police found the wad of cash and the two firearms in the vehicle, agreed facts state, marrying with Paulo telling the undercover two days earlier: “Eyes on, we’re gunna be fully armed.”
The court heard on Friday they had also agreed to meet again on December 15 to swap the remaining 400kg for another $350,000.
Paulo’s barrister Peter Lange said his client was in a “disparate partnership” with Peking Duck, and found himself in the drug trade due to a combination of losing his rugby league career and a gambling addiction.
Mr Lange said Paulo was trapped in a “rouse” by police targeting the network’s leader, saying the only evidence the promised drugs existed was Mr Duck’s “unwavering” belief that they did.
The absence of drugs meant Paulo’s activities posed no real threat to the community, he said.
Crown prosecutor Fiona Gray, however, told the court it was “quite clear” the haul was real.
“It was Peking Duck himself who indicated the cargo had been on land for a week, not police,” she said.
“The fact the drugs weren’t there (on the day of the deal) isn’t really a matter of mitigation.”
Kamuta was also convicted of the same charges following a joint trial in 2019.
His barrister Greg James QC described the two men as footsoldiers who “simply showed up” to the deal.
“(Their involvement) was about as basic as you can do,” Mr James said.
The matter will return to court before Judge Antony Townsden on May 22.