Tasmania’s biggest-ever drug bust of 26kg of ice to land Gold Coast woman in jail

A Gold Coast woman is expected to lose her $1.5 million home after trafficking $26 million worth of ice into Tasmania — and her “extremely stupid and reckless” reason for getting involved in the enterprise aired in court.

A Gold Coast woman expects to serve a lengthy jail sentence and lose her $1.5 million home after pleading guilty to the biggest-ever drug trafficking case in Tasmanian history.

Jacqueline Pauline Fiala, 50, has pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking – including the movement of 26kg of the drug ice, with a street value of up to $26 million.

Fiala, who also trafficked cocaine and ketamine, had oversight of a drug trafficking operation using couriers that brought drugs into the state from Queensland via the Spirit of Tasmania.

The illicit substances were hidden in car tyres.

“The magnitude of the trafficking has no parallel in this state,” Supreme Court judge Stephen Estcourt said on Friday, during a pre-sentencing hearing.

Defence barrister Greg Barns SC said Fiala acknowledged the offending was “extremely serious”.

He said she hadn’t funded a lavish lifestyle, but had arranged for the drug money to be sent back to Queensland, where she was “dealing with some very heavy people”.

Mr Barns said Fiala had become involved in the enterprise after making an “extremely stupid and reckless decision” when she felt she’d had no choice but to help a man who’d become “embroiled” in the Queensland drug trade.

Crown prosecutor Heather Denton said Fiala was first arrested in 2021 and charged with trafficking 26kg of ice into Tasmania between November 2019 and May that year.

She said the ice had a street value of up to $8.3 million if sold by the ounce, or $26 million if sold by the point.

Fiala was also charged with trafficking up to $321,000 worth of cocaine, and up to $6480 worth of ketamine.

Mrs Denton said while Fiala was on bail, she offended again and was charged in December 2021 with trafficking ice with a street value between $76,500 and $239,000.

“This trafficking was immense by Tasmanian standards,” she said.

“This is the most serious case of a drug nature that has been dealt with in Tasmania.”

Mrs Denton said while the state of Tasmania was seeking to possess Fiala’s Broadbeach Waters home as part of a yet-to-be-assessed pecuniary penalty, it was not suggested the property was “tainted” – or purchased with the proceeds of crime.

Mr Barns said Fiala had no prior criminal history and was unlikely to offend again “having realised the horror that this has brought about”.

“The reality is, she only has contact with her family via Zoom calls, and that’s going to continue for many, many years,” he said.

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