Colin Lee-Ferguson, Nicholas Evans: Darwin pair charged with 132g Peruvian cocaine import

Two friends originally from Central Queensland but now residing in Darwin have been charged with importing a large quantity of Peruvian cocaine. Federal police suspect the involvement of a third person.

Jingili man Colin John Lee-Ferguson, 35. Picture: Facebook

Two friends originally from Central Queensland but now residing in Darwin have been charged with importing a marketable quantity of cocaine from Peru.

Jingili man Colin John Lee-Ferguson, 35, and his friend Nicholas John Evans, 34, both of whom are understood to hail from the Yeppoon area, both appeared in Darwin Local Court on Friday.

Both men have been charged with Commonwealth offences of importing a marketable quantity of drugs and possessing a marketable quantity of an unlawfully imported substance.

It’s understood they were both arrested on Thursday.

The Commonwealth will allege the two men formed a joint enterprise to import a large quantity of Peruvian cocaine into Darwin via Singapore.

While the Australian Federal Police is awaiting an analysis certificate attesting to the substance’s purity, the seized amount allegedly had an impure weight of 132g.

The Commonwealth prosecutor told the court of the prosecution’s belief the “likely purity could be quite high”.

It will be alleged that Mr Evans was the principal player in the scheme, but that Mr Lee-Ferguson attempted to pick up the parcel by providing Mr Evans’ name and purporting to be him.

Darwin man Nicholas John Evans, 34. Picture: Facebook

The court was also told the AFP had advised the prosecution they suspected the involvement of a third person in Darwin in the alleged scheme, with the trio forming “some sort of syndicate”.

Mr Evans made no application for bail and was remanded in custody.

Mr Lee-Ferguson’s bail application was unsuccessful.

Defence lawyer Jackson Meaney told the court his client had lived at Jingili for approximately nine months but resides in Queensland ordinarily.

He said Mr Lee-Ferguson was a qualified bricklayer who had been working on Charles Darwin University’s CBD campus as a subcontractor.

Mr Meaney said his client was willing to abide by the strictest bail conditions, including the wearing of an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and the surrender of his passport, but it was not enough to sway Judge John Neill.

Judge Neill, who noted Mr Lee-Ferguson faced a maximum of 25 years’ jail if found guilty of the offences, told the court the defendant was “up to his eyeballs” in the alleged scheme, notwithstanding Mr Evans is alleged to have been the driving force.

Both men will reappear before the court on August 20.