Dopey Melbourne drug dealer busted by Google searches
You might be able to find anything you want on Google, but it doesn’t mean you should. That was a hard-earned lesson for Melbourne’s dopiest drug dealer.
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Google might have all the answers, but for one bumbling drug runner it would have been better if he never went searching for them.
Sam Kul, 36, was nabbed by customs officers on his way back from an overseas getaway with a female friend in April 2017 with almost five kilos of cocaine sewn into his carry on luggage.
The desperate holiday-maker claimed to be surprised, but a phone search by sceptical officers uncovered his embarrassing schemes.
Search terms on his phone included: “Bringing a million dollars through airport”, “Does customs check every bag in Australia?” and “Can money be seen on airport scanners”.
The dopey drug mule had also Googled “How to browse privately on Samsung”, but the damage was done.
Given his history as an airport security guard, Kul should have known better.
But the promised reward of $20,000 for carrying the drugs was too tempting for Kul, who was drowning in debt after buying an expensive AMG Mercedes as a way to impress his girlfriend.
Kul, from Roxburgh Park, pleaded not guilty to importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.
But he was convicted by a jury following a County Court trial.
He now faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, though prosecutors have conceded his offending doesn’t warrant the maximum.
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Prosecutor Aaron Shwartz said Kul had repeatedly lied about his offending, including claiming that he thought he was bringing money into the country when busted with drugs.
Mr Shwartz said Kul’s Google searches were an attempt to cause any trail of offending to be hazy.
“It was planned, it was built upon deception,” he said.
“He knew what he was doing.”
Kul, 36, insisted at trial he didn’t know he was carrying drugs.
His lawyer said his client had a limited, unrelated, criminal history, and good prospects for rehabilitation because of strong family support and the capacity to return to work.
Kul will be sentenced next week.