Raymond Saab, Antonio De Luca and Afif Saliba jailed for attempting to import 293kg of meth in excavator

A phone tap captured the moment a Sydney man, embroiled in an international drug plot which saw almost 295kg of Chinese meth shipped to Australia, realised his criminal endeavours had amounted to nothing.

The digger where police found the meth. Photo: AFP

A phone tap captured the moment a Sydney man, embroiled in an international drug plot which saw almost 295kg of Chinese meth shipped to Australia, realised his criminal endeavours had amounted to nothing.

After hours of physical labour and “significant effort” using power tools and a crow bar, Sydney man Antonio De Luca, 28, was heard saying “all this hard yakka … for what” after discovering the meth wasn’t within the excavator.

He and his co-offender Raymond Charbel Saab, 27, appeared via video link while Afif Saliba, 32, fronted Downing Centre District Court for sentencing before a packed courtroom of supporters on Thursday.

The trio previously pleaded guilty to attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug.

De Luca also pleaded guilty to taking in large commercial drug supply and a charge of possessing identity information to commit indictable offence which was taken into account during sentencing while Saab had an import commercial quantity of border controlled drug taken into account.

By the time Saliba allegedly began looking for the meth, police had removed it

Reading from agreed facts, Judge Warwick Hunt detailed how in March 2021, Saab organised the importation of the excavator which was ultimately intercepted by the Australia Border Force (ABF) and Australian Federal Police (AFP) in July 2021.

After it was examined, a white substance “concealed within the counterweight of the excavator” was found and later confirmed to be 293.08kg of meth with an 80.3 per cent purity.

After a few hurdles in the following weeks, and De Luca attempting to hot-wire the excavator, it finally made its way to Saliba’s premises in Arncliffe.

Judge Hunt said De Luca and Saliba made “significant steps to access the counterweight” – where the methamphetamine was originally sealed – using tools, including crow bars and cutting discs.

In coming to his decision, Judge Hunt accepted the trio didn’t know the purity or the “exact” amount of drugs within the excavator.

However, he said Saab knew “there was certainly more than the commercial quantity” of a border controlled drug and his role was “essential to the operation of the syndicate”.

He said De Luca also knew a border controlled drug was involved and while his role was also deemed “essential” it was not as critical as Saab’s.

Judge Hunt, however, was persuaded Saliba was “reckless” to his knowledge of the drug and given “his activities were largely limited to providing a place for the excavator to be stored” his role was less than his co-offenders.

Before giving his judgment, the judge acknowledged extensive referees supporting the three men, detailing their deep familial connections, to their parents, partners and young children.

He accepted the trio were remorseful and had strong subjective cases.

Judge Hunt ultimately sentenced Saab to nine years jail and his earliest release on parole is October 18 2027.

De Luca was imprisoned for seven years and two months and will be eligible for parole on the same date as Saab.

Saliba was jailed for six years and nine months and his earliest release on parole is July 8 2026.