Man learns fate over cocaine haul after dramatic arrest in Serbia

Tristan Waters, 40, was dramatically arrested at gunpoint inside a Serbian hotel in connection to a massive cocaine shipment destined for Sydney.

Tristan Waters. Photo: Supplied

A man has been cleared of trying to import a massive haul of cocaine into Sydney after he was arrested at gunpoint in a Serbian hotel when trying to retrieve the drugs five years ago.

Tristan Waters, 40, pleaded not guilty to attempting to smuggle the 1280kg of cocaine into the country in the NSW District Court.

The court heard his co-accused and friend, steel company director David Campbell, 53, had organised to smuggle the drugs from China to Australia inside a shipping container in 2017.

But, unbeknown to Campbell, AFP officers had secretly seized the container.

He was told it had been lost.

David Campbell.

The court was told Campbell later said of the missing container: “F***ing hell man, I f***ing need it urgent(ly)”.

Undercover police, posing as criminals, then arranged to meet Campbell and Waters to exchange the missing drugs in the hotel in Belgrade.

Ahmed and Torik Dib outside the Downing Centre after Waters’ not guilty verdict was returned on Tuesday. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

They were pretending to be members of a gang who had found the missing container and wanted money for it, choosing Serbia as a safe location to meet. 

“Trust me, you guys get paid, we get our stock back and everyone is going to be very happy – there’s no more dramas,“ Waters allegedly told the group.

But police then swooped on the pair and arrested them at gunpoint before they were later extradited back to Australia.

Waters, legally represented by Queensland-based solicitor Torik Dib and his brother, well known Sydney solicitor Ahmed Dib, was found not guilty by a jury of conspiring to import the drugs on Tuesday.

Outside court, Torik Dib said: “Mr Waters has been in custody in three different countries and, after five years, he’s finally been vindicated, considering he was facing life in prison and spent five years away from his family, which has caused considerable hardship. Justice has prevailed”.

Waters had already pleaded guilty to a less serious charge of attempting to possess the drugs.

Campbell was similarly found not guilty of conspiring to import the drugs, but guilty of conspiring to possess them.

He pleaded not guilty to the possession charge, unlike Waters.