Fiji Water bottle coke bust: John Kaurasi wins sentence reduction
A Fijian mechanic travelled internationally and “partied” for his job before he smuggled $17.5 million worth of cocaine into Australia in bottles of Fiji Water, his sentence appeal heard.
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A jailed Fijian man who smuggled $17.5 million worth of cocaine into Australia in bottles of Fiji Water has had his sentence reduced on appeal.
Mechanic John Kaurasi was 29 when he was arrested during a police raid on a southwestern Sydney home in August 2018.
In May the following year he pleaded guilty to importing 50kg of the drug, characterising himself as a “young man who made a very foolish mistake in life”.
“ (Kaurasi), who had no criminal record and a well-paid job, involved himself in criminality of such high order because of the significant profit to be made,” Supreme Court Justice Helen Wilson SC said on Wednesday.
Kaurasi was originally handed 12 years behind bars with a non-parole period of nine years but that was quashed in a decision by three judges from the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.
He successfully argued the sentencing judge erred in assessing the utilitarian value of his guilty plea, which was entered at the earliest reasonable opportunity.
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Kaurasi’s lawyer said he deserved a 25 per cent sentence discount and he was handed a maximum jail term of 11 years and three months with a non-parole period of eight years and five months.
In May 2018 the Fiji Water employee organised a pallet of more than 1,700 bottles of water to be shipped from Fiji to Sydney for a “wedding”.
He flew to Sydney in August that year for the arrival of the illicit shipment, which was to be delivered to a relative’s home.
But authorities intercepted the cargo and raided the Hurstville house, seizing mobile phones containing incriminating messages between Kaurasi and a man known as “Bulla”.
Kaurasi claims “Bulla” was a codename for Justin Ho, the intended recipient of the drugs and a man who has since been charged in Fiji for exporting cocaine from Nadi.
Kaurasi told police he intended to sell the water in what he claimed was a “good business proposition,” but officers calculated he would have lost money on any legitimate deal.
In a letter to the court, Kaurasi apologised to his family and expressed shame over his actions, saying he was “deeply sorry” to the Australian community.
After taking up a job at Fiji Water involving international travel and “partying”, Kaurasi’s marriage broke down and he developed an alcohol use disorder, a forensic psychologist found.
Justice Elizabeth Fullerton SC said Kaurasi showed a marked level of insight into his offending, “including what I accept is his genuine remorse and contrition”.
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(“Kaurasi) has sound prospects of rehabilitation,” she said in Wednesday’s judgment.
But Justice Helen Wilson agreed with the original sentencing judge, stating she was not persuaded Kaurasi was truly remorseful for his crime, “as opposed to regretful at being apprehended for committing it”.
