German man jailed after being fooled into smuggling eight kilograms of meth into Sydney

A German photography shop owner who thought he had inherited $10m from a distant relation has ended up in an Australia jail after being duped into working as a drug mule.

An elderly German man who fell victim to a scam run by an international drug ring and duped into delivering millions of dollars of meth into Australia will spend years in prison.

Wilfried Van Duhren was a “cleanskin”, a 70-year-old German citizen who ran a photography store in his hometown of Bradenberg.

He had never been in trouble with the law before and had no criminal record – making him the perfect target.

In March last year Van Duhren received an email from a person named Karen Thompson, who claimed to be a representative of the Royal Court of London and British Ministry of Finance.

Thompson told Van Duhren he’d been left a US$10.5 million inheritance from a long-lost relative. The catch was he needed to deliver a suitcase full of gifts to Sydney.

German national Wilfired Van Duhren was scammed into bringing seven kilos of meth into Sydney and has now been jailed.

In a back-and-forth over several emails, Thompson organised flights for Van Duhren and his wife, telling them the best route was via Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

She gave them $700 to cover their expenses and sent them on their way. Van Duhren did his best to make sure the gift and inheritance were legitimate and questioned Thompson via email.

“I assume we won’t have any problem in relation to the delivery of the gifts,” he wrote. “This is just to be conducive to doing business — is it legal?”

Thompson assured him it was legal and he travelled to Victoria Falls where he picked up two suitcases that had been stuffed with almost 8kg of meth.

However when he got to Sydney, he quickly discovered there was no inheritance.

When Border Force officials discovered the drugs, Van Duhren told them he had no knowledge of the drugs.

“Karen Thompson” scammed Wilfired Van Duhren into bringing 8kg of meth into Sydney.

Suitcases filled with 8kg of meth.

He was taken into custody and charged with importing a large commercial quantity of a controlled substance.

He spent months in prison, unable to speak English and suffering from health conditions.

This week a judge imprisoned him for five-and-a-half years, with a non-parole period of two years, nine months.

“He’s embarrassed that he’s been duped and that he fell for an unbelievable ruse,” his defence lawyer told the court.

“(But) he accepts his guilt on the basis of recklessness … though he was clearly being directed by callous individuals that were involved in an elaborate and sophisticated scam.”

Van Duhren’s wife Vera was also arrested on arrival into Sydney with her husband and spent months in custody before the charges were dropped.

She returned to Germany, with the court hearing she “cried daily”.

He also broke down in tears as his former life in Germany was explained, with friends and family writing ­letters in support of the “kind, helpful and hardworking” man.

Judge Mark Williams agreed Van Duhren had no knowledge he was importing drugs and acted on “false hope”.

“He was targeted due to his good character and age,” he said.

“He was blinded by the hope of financial reward founded on the naive or ­reckless belief he would receive millions in inheritance, rather than hope he would be paid for acting as mule for a drug ­syndicate.”

Judge Williams also drew attention to the sad fact that multiple elderly and vulnerable people had landed in Australian prisons after unknowingly acting as drug mules.

Despite his life being torn apart by the scam, Van Duhren apologised for his role and told the court he was relieved the drugs never reached the street and ruined more lives.

He will be eligible for release in 2025.