Miguel David: St George man sentenced for collecting drug package delivery to Neutral Bay mailbox

The man used a fake identity to collect a package from Thailand delivered to a mailbox in Neutral Bay. Find out how the heroin was concealed in the parcel.

A south Sydney man will remain behind bars for at least another seven month after he was arrested picking up a package containing heroin from a private mailbox.

Miguel David, 25, pleaded guilty to attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border controlled drug, namely heroin, and dealing in identification information.

The Sandringham man appeared from jail via audiovisual link to be sentenced in Sydney Downing Centre on Friday.

Judge Alan Abadee sentenced David to three years and five months in prison, backdating the start date to April 12 last year when he was arrested.

A non-parole period of one year, 10 months and 16 days was handed down.

Miguel David was arrested in a car park in Neutral Bay in June 2021 after he collected a package of imported drug. Picture: 9 News

Agreed facts tendered to court said NSW Police, as part of Strike Force Thiest, was investigating the co-ordinated importation of prohibited drugs concealed in parcels posted to mailboxes leased under false identities.

Australian Border Force officials intercepted a FedEx package sent from Thailand on March 31, last year with examinations revealing it contained two air mattresses each concealing impure heroin inside.

The package was seized and NSW Police were notified. The package was consigned to Gabriel Heks and was set to be delivered to a company Mailboxes Etc, a private post office box system for parcels, in Neutral Bay.

Inquiries with the company revealed a mail-receiving agreement had been entered into in January 2021 with an unknown man using a driver’s licence in the name of Bart Johnston.

On April 9, police collected the package from the ABF before it was taken to Chatswood police station where the contents was deconstructed, and 21 plastic packets of heroin were found.

The total weight of heroin was 2.09 kilograms with a 78.5 per cent impurity. There was a total pure heroin weight of 1.6 kilograms, which is more the commercial quantity.

Around 10am on April 12 police conducted a controlled delivery of the reconstructed package with an inert substance inside to Mailboxes Etc Neutral Bay office, with the company then following its usual protocols to send an email to the person used when the account was set up.

Around 3pm that day, a man, later revealed to be David, made a phone call to the company advising Gabriel Heks would be in shortly to collect the package.

About an hour later David entered the office, where he provided false identification in the name of Gabriel Heks and took possession of the parcel.

David, during his sentencing hearing, told the court that about 1pm that day a man, who he chose not to identify out of fear of reprisal, told him to collect the package which contained steroids in exchange for $2000.

He told the court he thought the package might not have been steroids but was focused on the money he would receive.

David walked with the parcel to a nearby underground car park where he approached a silver Toyota Camry, which was driven in at the same time.

Plain clothes police officers followed and approached David while he was standing at the front passenger side of the car.

Police arrested David and the driver.

Officers seized David’s wallet which contained a NSW drivers licence of Gabriel Heks but had a photo of David on it.

Inquiries with Transport for NSW confirmed the licence and a Medicare card in the name of Gabriel Heks were fraudulent.

David revealed his identity once at the police station but provided no further comment on the allegations.

In court on Friday, Judge Abadee said David was “reckless” as to the type of border controlled drug concealed in the package but nonetheless bore “absolute liability” in relation to the quantity imported.

The Crown was unable to establish David knew the type of the drug, the size of the package before he collected it, the quantity inside nor of the purity of the drugs.

The court heard the Crown argued “the use of private mailbox arrangements and false identity documents demonstrated a degree of sophistication and planning” enabling David to take possession of the consignment whilst minimising the risk of detection.

Judge Abadee accepted David had only been asked to collect the package about two hours earlier on the date the package arrived but did not agree his actions were “impulsive” given the identity documents that had to be created prior, for which David provided his photo.

David, who gave evidence during his sentencing hearing, said he was not seeking a significant monetary benefit with the payment being used to feed his drug addiction, support his own living expenses and to help his mother.

Judge Abadee accepted David’s actions were at a “low level of objective seriousness” given it occurred only on one day, his role was limited and the quantity of the drug fell at the lower end.

The court heard David wrote a letter to the court where he expressed his remorse and shame for his actions, “unreservedly apologising” and recognising the harm drugs did in the community.

Judge Abadee accepted David was contrite and gave him a 30 per cent reduction for entering a plea of guilty given the pandemic.

The court heard David was only young at the time, being 24, but had been convicted for supplying drugs in the past and dealing with the proceeds of crime, therefore not entitling him to the leniency afforded to first-time offenders.

A forensic psychological report stated a difficult childhood meant David fell into “bad company” during his teen years, where he took drugs, which escalated to the point he could not fund his addiction.

The court heard David used drugs as a coping mechanism for his childhood and ADHD.

He still had the support of his parents and had a good work history.

David had expressed a desire to undertake drug rehabilitation treatment and had since his arrest had been abstinent from drugs.

David will be eligible for release to parole on 27 February 2023.