Kaharau Beer pleads guilty to attempting to possess 4kg of methamphetamine from US

A man drove from Queensland to Newcastle, with the brother of an NRL star, to pick up a parcel containing millions in drugs without realising police had intercepted it first. Read what happened in court.

Kaharau Beer pleaded guilty to one charge in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday. Picture: Amy Ziniak

A man who drove from Queensland to Newcastle, with the brother of an NRL star in the passenger seat, was set to pick up a parcel with millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine inside.

Little did he know that police had intercepted it.

Kaharau Beer, 20, from Bonogin on the Gold Coast, was sensationally arrested in an industrial area near Maitland in August last year after driving close to 700km to pick up the package at Beresfield.

The package was supposed to contain two bundles of methamphetamine totalling 4kg – estimated to be worth about $3.5m – imported from the US into Australia, but authorities had already nabbed the drug at the border.

In the passenger seat was Zeda Haas, the brother of Brisbane Broncos enforcer Payne Haas, who was also arrested.

But eight months later, Haas had two serious drug charges against him dropped after a court heard it was an “extremely weak” case against him.

The parcel contained two bundles weighing around 4kg of meth. Picture: iStock.

In Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday, Beer appeared via video link as he pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of the border controlled drug meth.

Four charges including take part in the supply of a large commercial quantity of drugs, traffic in a commercial quantity of a controlled drug and two counts of import a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug were dropped against the 20-year-old.

The court previously heard Beer stayed down in Newcastle before going to pick up the parcel and used the name ‘Kevin’ at the pick-up point when he took possession.

Beer will be arraigned in the District Court next month.