‘F***ing idiot’ busted smuggling $1m worth of cannabis into Darwin in false bottomed trailer

A ‘f***ing idiot’ who got busted trying to smuggle more than $1m worth of cannabis into Darwin from South Australia has pleaded guilty to possessing 150lb of the drug.

A “F***ING idiot” who got busted trying to smuggle more than $1m worth of cannabis into Darwin from South Australia has pleaded guilty to possessing 150lb of the drug.

Giuseppe Recchia, 54, faced the Supreme Court on Friday after stashing 68.1kg of cannabis in 150 individually cryovaced packages in the false bottom of his trailer on November 2 last year.

Crown prosecutor David Dalrymple said Recchia then arranged for the whole trailer to be freighted to Darwin but it was intercepted by police the next day in Alice Springs.

The officers replaced the illicit cargo with bags of sand and on November 7, Recchia picked it up and towed the trailer back to Marlows Lagoon before police raided the property shortly after 7pm that night.

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In the search, investigators turned up nine mobile phones and $5330 in cash and arrested Recchia before also learning he had made multiple previous trips from SA to Darwin and dispatched another similar trailer in the same way the previous month.

The court heard Recchia told the officers “I don’t make much money mate, just survive” selling coins and furniture and that the seized cash was gambling winnings.

When police pointed out he had either had enough money to buy the drugs before or now owed someone that amount, he made partial admissions — including to being a “f***ing idiot” — but refused to speak about any previous consignments.

Mr Dalrymple said if sold by the ounce in Darwin the cannabis seized would have a total street value of between $1.09m and $1.2m and if sold by the gram, it would be worth up to $3.4m.

Defence lawyer Shane McMaster tendered a bundle of references and successfully applied for an adjournment to allow time for a psychological report to be completed.

Mr McMaster also requested a report on Recchia’s eligibility to be supervised on a partially suspended sentence in SA but Justice Peter Barr indicated the quantity of drugs involved would make a non-parole period more likely.

“I appreciate of course that quantity is not necessarily determinative but this is a massive importation into the Territory, is it not?” he said.

“It may well be that the court would be unable to order a suspended sentence in this matter.”

Recchia will return to court on June 18.

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