UK drug trafficker Saul Andrew Malcolm Sposato jailed after massive $2m cocaine bust

A UK cocaine mule who told a court he just wanted to earn enough money to go home to his dying mum has been jailed.

A UK man with the reading age of a nine-year-old has been jailed for his involvement in a mammoth $2m cocaine plot, with a court hearing his low IQ made him the “perfect patsy”.

Saul Andrew Malcolm Sposato appeared in the District Court on Wednesday for sentencing after pleading guilty to attempted trafficking in a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug.

Judge Joanna Fuller noted Sposato, 29, “understood” the severity of his offending, but accepted his decision-making was “impaired” due to having an IQ of 57.

“Dr (Richard) Balfour considered you to be the perfect patsy to be recruited for a criminal endeavour, because you’re vulnerable to manipulation,” Judge Fuller said.

“He characterised your offending as the desperate actions of an intellectually disabled man with no social support in Australia. He said you could not calculate the change you would have saved if you used a $2 coin to buy a $1.67 can of coke.

“Your personal circumstances, including of course your intellectual disability, are compelling.”

Sposato, 30, of the UK, was arrested by Australian Border Force officers in December 2022 while collecting a package.

At the time, prosecutors alleged it contained 5kg of cocaine worth $2m if sold in street deals.

Sposato pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle 5kg of cocaine worth $2 million into Australia. Picture: Facebook

He was sentenced on Wednesday. Picture: Facebook

A court previously heard Sposato told police he was on holiday from the UK as a “keen, but novice surfer”, and had been approached by a “random” who asked if he wanted to make “some extra money”.

The illiterate Leicester-born man, who the court heard grew up in a “crime-ridden” neighbourhood, was tasked with picking up the package from National Storage and delivering it to another person as a “courier”.

Earlier this month, Sposato asked the District Court to impose a “merciful” non-parole period for his crime so he could “just go home” .

On Wednesday, the court heard she died in 2023 while her son – who regarded her as “the best mum in the world – was in custody on remand.

Judge Fuller sentenced Sposato to four years, three months and nine days in jail with a non-parole period of two years and two months.

The sentence was backdated to December 16, 2022 – when Sposato was taken into custody – meaning he is now eligible for parole.

If granted parole, the 29-year-old will be deported back to the UK.

Originally published as UK drug trafficker Saul Andrew Malcolm Sposato jailed after massive $2m cocaine bust