Jit Goh and Soon Chan jailed for attempting to possess meth to pay off gambling debts

Two men integral to a drug importation attempt were busted while trying to accept the delivery of methamphetamine in Melbourne.

File photo

Two Malaysian nationals who attempted to possess 16kg of methylamphetamine to pay off gambling debts will remain behind bars for several years.

Jit Goh, 46, and Soon Chan, 46, were both sentenced by County Court judge Justin Hannerbery this week.

The men pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug – methylamphetamine.

Judge Hannerbery said Chan, a qualified electrician, also pleaded guilty to two further offences of attempting to possess a marketable quantity of a border controlled drug in April 2020.

This offending related to accepting a box containing drugs imported in a container of household furniture from Malaysia.

Wechat messages inferred the delivery included 18 packages each containing one kilogram of methylamphetamine, as well as seven cans containing “at least” six kilograms of cocaine.

He was instructed to test and weigh the drugs and to take photos and videos of the packages.

The court heard he discussed being paid $500 split two ways for each kilo of drugs delivered, while other messages discussed placing the packages into a suitcase and then taking a taxi to deliver them to multiple parties in one day.

A month later another consignment arrived in Melbourne that contained foil packages labelled as Chinese tea.

The Australian Border Force discovered the tea was methylamphetamine with a purity of 80 per cent and seized the drug, replaced it with rock salt and repackaged it for delivery to Chan and Goh, who were staying in an apartment on Collins Street.

The court heard the men photographed and filmed the packages and conducted tests on the drugs.

Judge Hannerbery said the men could be heard commenting on the fact the contents appeared to have been substituted in the videos and were instructed to dispose of the product.

The court heard the men exchanged messages discussing taking another package to recoup the losses suffered in June, but were arrested the following day.

Both men were charged with attempting to possess one of these boxes.

Judge Hannerbery noted the men, who had known each other for many years, committed the offences as “individuals under financial pressure as a result of gambling debts”.

He said their roles were “crucial” to the importation as they secured a safe location to accept the package, but said they were also tasked with verifying their quality before distributing them to buyers.

“Your role was one that required a great deal of trust to be placed in you by the criminals running the syndicate,” he said.

“That you did not deliver them as anticipated was purely the result of the police detection and subsequent replacement of the drugs imported from Malaysia.”

While describing it as serious offending, he said both had pleaded guilty and thus saved significant court time and money for what would have been a legally and factually complicated weeks-long trial that would have involved interpreters.

Accepting the greater burden of imprisonment during the height of pandemic restrictions and as foreign nationals without family in close proximity, he said both men also faced deportation after the completion of their sentences.

Chan was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison with a non-parole period of six years and three months, while Goh was sentenced to seven years in prison with a non-parole period of five years.

Both have served 733 days in pre-sentence detention which was reckoned as time served.