Jacob Rohen imprisoned for attempt to possess more than 22kg of cocaine

A criminal syndicate involving Mick Gatto’s son-in-law tried to import more than $9m worth of cocaine, hidden in Xerox printers to Australia. Now a third man has been jailed.

A Coburg man will spend up to ten years behind bars for his role in the attempted importation of millions of dollars worth of cocaine.

Jacob Rohen, 41, was this week sentenced in the Melbourne County Court for his involvement in a syndicate’s attempt to import a massive shipment of cocaine from Mexico.

It came after Rohen was found guilty of one count of charge of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of cocaine during a trial in June this year.

The court was told a consignment of five Xerox printers arrived in Melbourne in April 2017, with blocks of cocaine weighing just over 22kg found hidden inside.

The pure weight of the drugs was 15.5kg, with an estimated street value of between $9.3m and $12.4m.

Australian Federal Police officers deconstructed and reconstructed the blocks, substituting the drugs with an “inert substance” before undercover operatives executed a controlled drop at a mechanic in Coburg North on May 8.

Rohen was at the business for the delivery and used a forklift to unload the boxes from the undercover operatives before reloading them into a skip.

The court heard he hired a truck in Campbellfield the following day, which the consignment was loaded into about an hour later.

The following afternoon Rohen’s BMW was used to escort the consignment as it was transferred to a warehouse in Airport West.

Rohen was arrested on May 12 as he used the same truck to move furniture out of his Coburg home.

Australian Border Force officers detected a shipment of cocaine inside five Xerox printers that arrived in Melbourne from Mexico. Picture: AFP

Australian Border Force officers detected a shipment of cocaine inside five Xerox printers that arrived in Melbourne from Mexico. Picture: AFP

While Judge Michael Bourke did not find Rohen drove the truck or was involved in loading the consignment into it on May 9, or that he was driving his BMW to escort the consignment the following evening, he said his involvement in assisting the criminal enterprise was “substantial and important to its aims”.

“There was clearly concern on the part of the prominent players about surveillance and the need to maintain possession [of the drugs] for delivery onto distribution in the drug network,” Judge Bourke said.

“It cannot be argued that this was not a major drug importation and a sophisticated operation. Its aim was very high profit.”

John Tambakakis, 38, and Mick Gatto’s son-in-law Danny Awad, 43 have already each been convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison for their roles.

Both men recently launched appeals into their sentences.

Though Judge Bourke said he saw the pair as “more senior players” who were “higher in the hierarchy”.

The court was told Rohen had a “demanding” and “traumatic” upbringing, was unsuccessful at school and had worked “sporadically” in traffic control, telemarketing and security throughout his life.

Suffering from long-term drug dependency and with a criminal record, Judge Bourke said Rohen’s motive needed to be seen as “financial gain”.

“This was a major criminal enterprise and attempt at entering a drug supply into the community,” Judge Bourke said.

“Your role was important -- the expected ecstacy profit was high, especially for the higher entrepreneurs.”

He sentenced Rohen to 10 years in prison with a non-parole period of 6.5 years.