Coffs Harbour man Aravind Periasamy sentenced for trafficking heroin from Malaysia

A Mid-North Coast man who tried to help smuggle more than 1kg of pure heroin disguised as fishing gear into Australia from Malaysia was treated as a “disposable intermediary”, a court has heard.

A Coffs Harbour man who tried to smuggle over 1kg or pure heroin into Australia from Malaysia said it was “only a little bit” before being jailed at Lismore District Court on Tuesday.

A Coffs Harbour man who tried to smuggle over 1kg or pure heroin into Australia from Malaysia was treated as a “disposable intermediary”, a court heard.

Aravind Periasamy, 32, appeared before Judge Jonathan Priestley in Lismore District Court on Tuesday.

He sat in the dock in a loose prison green tracksuit with four family members in the gallery and a Malaysian interpreter.

In August 2024, Periasamy pleaded guilty to attempting to possess a marketable quantity of an unlawfully imposed border-controlled drug, which was destined for Melbourne.

The court heard a parcel claiming to only contain fishing gear arrived in Australia from Malaysia in October 2022.

Aravind Persiasamy.

Air cargo security detected 1087.16g of pure heroin concealed in the parcel, resulting in its seizure by the Australian Border Force.

The package was addressed to a Woolgoolga property, 25km north of Coffs Harbour where police set up a sting to lure the receiver.

1087.16 grams of pure heroin was seized from a parcel containing fishing gear.

The court heard Periasamy was collecting the package from others delivered to a Woolgoolga address he previously lived at.

Periasamy arrived at the property, examined the package and made a phone call before leaving, police state.

Officers followed the offender’s white sedan and pulled him over at a petrol station where his car was searched and police found fishing gear, as well as several mobile phones.

A consignee phone number on the pack was also his, the court heard.

Aravind Persiasamy.

Judge Priestley said Periasamy told police he was involved in dummy runs beforehand.

The judge said his role was not insignificant as he had tracked the delivery, phoned to check on it and had made other “dummy runs”.

In those cases, Periasamy used his own car and had been treated as a disposable intermediary at risk of detection, only finding out he was receiving drugs the second time he was asked to collect a parcel.

Periasamy confessed to knowing the package contained drugs, but told officers he believed it would only have “a little bit, not much”.

“The offender accepted his role in imported drugs, an attempt, it’s nevertheless conduct that sees drugs come into the community,” Mr Priestley said.

“$3500 is a significant amount and was only to be received after months of involvement – more in need than greed,” Priestley said.

Periasamy was convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of five years and nine months with a three year non-parole period.

Family members wept in the gallery as he was escorted from the dock.

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Originally published as Coffs Harbour man Aravind Periasamy sentenced for trafficking heroin from Malaysia