Mornington Peninsula drug mule found out after swallowing 30 heroin filled condoms
A heroin mule battling a half a century drug addiction had his time in court after a dramatic medical episode led doctors to discover dozens of condoms filled with drugs inside his stomach. But one simple step could have stopped him from being caught.
South East
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A heroin mule was busted in a most unusual way — phoning 000 as he feared pellets of the drug were exploding in his stomach, a court has heard.
Christopher Thompson, 64, pleaded guilty in the County Court after the frightening incident which saw him collapse on his Mt Martha front yard on November 19.
The court heard Thompson, an addict for 48 years, was awaiting his flight home from India when he decided to buy approximately 30g of the drug for $3500 from a taxi driver on November 18 last year.
“(You admitted) you also purchased condoms and placed the heroin into approximately 30 condoms, tied each condom into knots and then swallowed them,” Judge George Georgiou said.
“You had not prepared properly and you were aware from others you should have drunk milk a part of the preparation process to line your stomach.”
Thompson started to feel sick on the plane but made it through border control at Avalon Airport before catching a bus and train and arriving home in the early hours of November 19.
“Shortly after you arrived home, you called triple-0 telling the operator you had ingested heroin two days ago and were in need of stomach pump, you then terminated the call,” Mr Georgiou said.
Emergency operators called the number back but Thompson’s elderly mother, who he lived with and cared for, answered the phone instead.
She was not aware of Thompson’s first call and found him laying on the front lawn.
“You could be heard during the call telling your mother you had swallowed condoms containing heroin and that they were still in your stomach …(and) you felt as though you were dying,” Mr Georgiou said.
The court heard Thompson told paramedics he had ingested 40 condoms each filled with 1.5g of heroin for his personal use before starting to cough up small fragments of rubber.
He underwent a gastroscopy at Frankston Hospital before police analysed a total of 27 packages containing 12g of pure heroin— six times the illegal marketable quantity.
Thompson was arrested when police executed a search warrant at his property on November 22.
He told officers he intended to use the drug himself and denied wanting to sell it to others.
The court heard Thompson was bullied as a child for being overweight and began abusing heroin at the age of 16 to deal with self-esteem issues.
But despite his addiction Thompson had managed to run a garden maintenance business which lasted for three decades before it came to a halt when his car was stolen three years ago.
In a character reference Thompson’s friend said the 64-year-old made efforts to “rid himself” of his addiction and was “always a worker” that cared for his mother and 21-year-old daughter.
He had not been convicted of any offence since 1990 including possess heroin and theft and had been on a methadone program when he travelled to India.
“(But) your admitted use of heroin from the age of 17 until your incarceration in 2019 means you were regularly in breach of the law,” Mr Georgiou said.
“You told police in effect it was cheaper to buy the drug in India than here …(you’re)
fortunate to have made it to Australia without detection and fortunate you have survived.
“You clearly knew your conduct was illegal and you took the risk.”
Thompson pleaded guilty to importing a marketable quantity of a border control drug on August 28.
He was convicted and sentenced to 10 months behind bars but was released under a Recognisance Release Order after serving nine months of pre-sentence detention.
Strict conditions of the order included that he must be of good behaviour for six months as well as attend his counselling treatments and drug abuse program.
He was also required to pay $1000 to the court.
brittany.goldsmith@news.com.au
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