Australian grandmother found guilty of drug trafficking by Japanese court

Chiba: Perth grandmother Donna Nelson has been found guilty of drug trafficking charges by a Japanese court.

Nelson was sentenced to six years in prison and received a $10,000 fine, but 430 days will be deducted from her sentence for time already served.

A sketch of Donna Nelson in court during the trial.Credit: Yoshitaka Enomoto

Nelson’s lawyers have already flagged they intend to appeal the court’s decision.

The 58-year-old from Perth, who ran as the Greens candidate for the West Australian electorate of Pearce in the 2022 federal election, was arrested at Narita airport 50 kilometres west of Tokyo in January 2023 after customs officials found about two kilograms of methamphetamine in a suitcase she was carrying.

Nelson has maintained she was the victim of a Nigerian scam and that her online lover “Kelly” had arranged for her to bring the suitcase from Laos because he told her he was a fashion designer in Japan and he wanted to sell the case in one of his shops.

Through an interpreter, senior judge Masakazu Kamakura said the suitcase had a sophisticated hidden pocket that stashed the drugs and that Nelson had played a peripheral but an “imperative and essential role” in the operation.

“The court could presume the defendant had a doubt the suitcase had something illegal,” Kamakura said.

“The strangeness of the request was not resolved, and the doubt something illegal could be inside the suitcase was not resolved.”

However, the judge also expressed sympathy for her, and said Kelly had taken advantage of her and her actions could not be condemned strongly.

The judge said Nelson’s case was similar to other love scam cases seen in the country.

“He took an advantage of her desire for marriage,” Kamakura said.

A mask covered Nelson’s face as she waited for her verdict to be read out in the Chiba District Court on Wednesday afternoon.

She was quivering and looked into the eyes of her eldest daughter, Kristal, and four-year-old granddaughter.

Donna Nelson.

Nelson’s family said they were disappointed and devastated by the court’s verdict and maintained she was the victim of a romance scam.

“She has always been against drugs,” a statement from her five daughters read. “As she said in her trial, she was duped – and did not know there were drugs in the bag her partner asked her to take into Japan.

“We cannot say any more about the case at this time as we consider preparing for an appeal, but we want to make clear now – we will never stop fighting for our mum. And we will keep fighting until we can bring her home.

“It has been devastating for us as Donna’s daughters to be cut off from our mum for these past two years. Our hearts break to think of her being detained in Japan for six years.”

Nelson’s lawyer Rie Nishida said the verdict was unreasonable and they would fight until she got her freedom.

“We strongly believe her innocence. We’ll fight until the end,” she said.

“The suitcase is empty, and she actually checked it. So she cleared her doubt. Even if she had some doubt, she cleared her doubt.”

Australia’s ambassador to Japan, Justin Hayhurst, was at the court on Wednesday and told media after the verdict the Australian government would continue to provide consular support to Nelson and her family.

“The family’s having a difficult time on matters relating to the case. It will be for the lawyers and for the family to comment further,” he said.

“The Australian government, for its part, will continue to engage with the family and to support them.”

In her testimony to the Chiba District Court last month, Nelson broke down as she described how she had started online dating after her divorce and she sparked a relationship with Kelly.

The pair communicated for more than two years before making plans to meet in Tokyo.

“At no point did I feel like Kelly was scamming me,” Nelson testified.

The Nigerian man flew her business class from Perth to Singapore and then on to Laos, where he allegedly asked her to collect the suitcase.

But when she arrived in Laos, there was no booking for her at the hotel. The man suggested she pay for a room at the Crown Plaza. Nelson sent a message saying she was thinking about going home and was worried.

“Please wait. The guy is at work. He will come with $1500 as soon as he finishes,” a message to her read.

The court heard Nelson only received the suitcase from Kelly’s “business manager” 15 minutes before checking out to fly to Japan.

There were clothing samples inside, but she didn’t notice anything strange about the case and placed her belongings in it before heading for her flight to Tokyo.

Judges had been deliberating on Nelson’s case for a week, and Japanese prosecutors were pushing for a 10-year sentence.

Four of Nelson’s daughters were in Japan to watch their mother give evidence.

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