Israh Chahine, Alexandra Karanfilovski: meth importation trial continues

A woman on trial for allegedly importing drugs from has sobbed on the stand as she insisted she did not know a box of cheesy tortellini and tomato sauce actually contained meth.

A young Sydney woman charged with drug importation has tearfully insisted she was unaware the box of cheesy tortellini and tomato sauce delivered in her name to her friend’s address actually contained methamphetamine worth $2.7 million.

Police charged Israh Chahine and her close friend Alexandra Karanfilovski with unlawfully importing border-controlled drugs after the pair received a box of rations from Orange County, California which contained $2.7 million of methamphetamine.

Their male associates Adam Ayshan and Mohamad Hawchar were also charged with the same offence.

Chahine and Karanfilovski have pleaded not guilty to the offence and will argue they were led to believe that the box contained human growth hormone – not methamphetamine – only when the package was already on its way to them.

Israh Chahine outside court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Emotions ran high in the latest day of their jury trial before Judge Donna Woodburne at Sydney District Court as Chahine took to the stand for the second day in a row.

The court heard the Arncliffe pair believed they were receiving a satchel of human growth hormone as a favour for their male associates, and they codenamed the package’s contents “foundation”.

“Is that because human growth hormone makes men look nicer, like foundation makes women look nicer?” the Crown asked Chahine.

“It makes them grow bigger, I don’t know how it works,” Chahine responded.

Alexandra Karanfilovski at court. Picture: Toby Zerna

The Crown peppered Chahine with difficult questions about her claim she was told the box contained human growth hormone, rather than methamphetamine.

Chahine confirmed to the Crown that a male associate had told her two ounces of human growth hormone was worth $3000 – but that she herself had expected to receive $3000 as payment for the risk she took in receiving the package for them.

The Crown suggested Chahine would never have received payment for the favour to the same value of the entire package – and she must have known it was methamphetamine, which was much more valuable.

“I didn’t know it was meth,” Chahine repeated, dissolving into tears on the stand as the trial drew to a close for the day on December 1.

The court heard a recording device planted inside the intercepted package of meth and tapped phone calls captured conversations between Chahine and Karanfilovski and later between Chahine and a male associate about the mysterious package.

Karanfilovski at court. Picture: Toby Zerna

Chahine at court. Picture: Toby Zerna

The box of rations was addressed to Chahine in name, but to Karanfilovski’s home address.

The court heard quotes from a conversation between the pair as Karanfilovski handed the box to Chahine to deliver to their male associate.

“What the actual f**k, that’s f**ked … what the f**k, I’m going to open it,” Chahine was heard to have said as she eyeballed the box for the first time.

“I wanted to know why it was so heavy, I thought maybe he had purchased more (human growth hormone) than he had initially told me,” Chahine told her barrister Ben Barrack.

“He didn’t tell me how much, just that it was going to be small, like a satchel, he didn’t say it was going to be a box.”

Israh Chahine.

Alexandra Karanfilovski.

The Crown also referred to intercepted conversations where Chahine and Karanfilovski discussed asking for more payment once they had seen the size of the package.

“You say, ‘I won’t do it again, I don’t want to do it any more’, you’re saying ‘I’m fully f**king dirty,” the Crown said to Chahine.

“‘I put that in my budget’ and ‘I planned to do sh*t with that money’.”

But despite firm questioning from the Crown, Chahine repeatedly stuck to her story that she was completely unaware the box of cheesy tortellini and tomato sauce from California contained methamphetamine.

The trial continues before Judge Woodburne on Thursday.