Drug trafficking trial of Perth grandma Donna Nelson begins in Japan as kids say she’s the victim

A devoted grandma and prominent community figure facing life in prison on drug trafficking charges is the victim of an elaborate romance scam, her family says.

A Perth grandmother facing a life sentence in Japan on serious drug trafficking charges is the victim of an elaborate romance scam hatched by a global crime syndicate, her devastated family claims.

Donna Nelson was arrested at Narita Airport in Tokyo in January 2023 after arriving on a flight from Laos, allegedly with some two kilograms of methamphetamine concealed in her suitcase.

Since then, the 58-year-old’s children have had virtually no contact with her, with Japan’s notoriously draconian justice system swallowing up the respected community leader.

Ms Nelson’s trial begins today in the eastern city of Chiba.

“Mum is the victim of a romance scam – she is the victim of crime, not a criminal,” her five daughters said in a statement.

“We place our faith in the court and the Japanese criminal justice system.”

But the odds are heavily stacked against Ms Nelson.

Perth grandmother Donna Nelson is on trial for drug trafficking in Japan. Picture: Supplied

The non-profit lobby group Human Rights Watch describes the country’s legal system as “hostage justice”, with criminal trials having a staggering 99.8 per cent conviction rate.

Ms Nelson’s lawyer, Nishida Rie, is counting on serious issues involving customs officials and police being central to her defence.

“We found grave problems with the low-quality and partiality of English interpretation during customs and police investigations, as well as the failure to use objective recording methods, such as audio recordings, in the early stages of the investigation, even when it was entirely feasible to do so,” Ms Nishida told ABC News.

“There were significant mistranslations during the investigation stage, which might have caused a premature and erroneous suspicion of her guilt.”

Donna Nelson’s devastated family say she’s the victim of an elaborate romance scam. Picture: Supplied

The lawyer’s description of the drugs having been “cleverly hidden” inside a suitcase carried by Ms Nelson supports her family’s claim that she was set up.

Ms Nelson flew from Perth to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, at the end of December 2022, and then onto Japan three days later, to meet the “love of her life”, her eldest daughter Kristal Hilaire said.

She and a businessman named Kelly had met on a dating website some two years earlier and formed an intense and close relationship.

“They started messaging but it grew to video calls,” Ms Hilaire told Ten News anchor Neralda Jacobs. “I’d see them talking often.

“We all were a bit cautious [but] this wasn’t something that was on our radars at all. We were more cautious about sending him money … but she reassured us that he’d never asked for money.”

It was the opposite, Ms Nelson believed, with Kelly boasting about his business success and financial security and offering to take care of her once they married.

He had adult children from a previous relationship and Ms Hilaire believes her mother was “sold this beautiful, big blended family image”.

“She was vulnerable in that she was really lonely and she just wanted to connect with someone who had similar values,” she said in an interview with ABC News.

Ms Nelson had fallen in love and believed she “would not have to be alone anymore”.

The man who called himself Kelly “groomed” Ms Nelson for two years. Picture: Supplied

The man she was speaking to arranged her travel to Japan, where he claimed to live and work in the fashion industry, and controlled the chosen itinerary.

Ms Nelson would have to fly to Laos for a three-day stopover because of the busy period between Christmas and New Year, he claimed.

As she left a hotel in Vientiane, on her way to the airport to fly to Japan, one of Kelly’s “business associates” met her and asked her to take a suitcase.

Seemingly suspicious, she carefully examined its contents, which comprised of clothing samples and not much else.

“We believe mum went thoroughly went through the suitcase … she didn’t see what was built into the suitcase,” Ms Hilaire told Channel 10.

The drugs had been concealed beneath the lining of the bag, it’s believed.

Japan’s justice system is notoriously heavy handed. Picture: Supplied

Ms Nelson’s children couldn’t reach her after she was due to have landed and days later heard word that she had been arrested.

Since then, she’s been cut off from contact with all of the outside world, with the exception of her lawyer, and subjected to harsh conditions behind bars.

“She’s locked in a cell on her own for 23-and-a-half hours a day on weekdays, on weekends it’s 24 hours a day,” Ms Hilaire said. “She gets a bath maybe twice a week. No visits, no phone calls.

“She’s lost almost 30 kilos in this time. She’s a very strong-minded person … I think if she wasn’t, her health would’ve deteriorated a lot more.

“The hardest part is not being able to speak to her and not knowing how she’s doing. Her absence is really, really hard.”

Donna Nelson’s children have travelled to Japan for the trial.

Her daughters insist she would never have knowingly broken the law.

“Dad was the first Aboriginal detective in Western Australia, my grandfather was the first Aboriginal policeman in Western Australia,” Ms Hilaire told the ABC. “She would never, ever have any kind of involvement in something that could ruin so many lives for other people.”

Ms Nelson is well-known in Western Australia.

She was the chair of the Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service, the director of the charity the Pioneers Aboriginal Corporation, and ran as a candidate for the Greens at the 2022 Federal Election.

As well as a mother, Ms Nelson is a devoted grandmother.

What she isn’t is “dumb” or naive, Ms Hilaire said, comparing the romance scammer’s tactics to calculated “grooming”.

“She’s a very smart person, but mum was targeted by an international crime syndicate who are very good at what they do. She was groomed for two years [and] tricked that she was going to get married to someone.

“I don’t believe he worked alone, I think he was a part, and probably still is a part, of a large, sophisticated syndicate or network of people who work all around the world.

“We’ve submitted as much information as we can on this person and not had any feedback, so from what we know, not really much is being done about him.”