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Thursday, May 2, 2024

18 years jail for drug syndicate ‘queen’

The self-described 49-year-old ‘queen’ of a criminal drug smuggling syndicate convicted for her role in attempting to import high grade heroin into Melbourne was sentenced to prison in the Melbourne County Court today.

The Richmond woman, who was charged with a string of serious illicit drug offences, including importing and trafficking commercial quantities of heroin, was handed a jail term of 18 years with a non-parole period of 13 years.

She was initially charged in early 2019 as part of a multi-agency law enforcement operation code-named Operation Sunrise.

The investigation uncovered a large-scale heroin smuggling operation believed to be responsible for the importation of an estimated $6 million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs using international airline cabin crew, operating into Melbourne

The Victorian Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (JOCTF) – comprising Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Border Force (ABF), Victoria Police (VICPOL) and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) – launched enquiries into the syndicate in December 2018 as part of a wider investigation into the alleged criminal syndicate. 

The JOCTF arrested the 49-year-old woman in Richmond in January last year, after she acted as the Australian contact for a Malaysian-based supplier. Police say she is considered to have played a high-level role as syndicate leader in Australia. 

It was alleged in court her contacts would advise her of upcoming flights into Australia, where she would then facilitate cabin crew members to covertly import what were described as ‘tickets’ of heroin.

Her offending spans the period between 2 October 2018 to 8 January 2019 and relates to her involvement in multiple separate drug-related deals.  

She was involved in the importation of eight kilograms of heroin, which had an estimated street value of $6 million. 

Today’s sentencing follows the conviction last month of a 28-year-old Sunshine North man and a 57-year-old Deer Park woman. They were sentenced in Melbourne County Court on 28 October and are currently serving terms of imprisonment.

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