A mother and son convicted over supplying and trafficking a commercial quantity of methamphetamine as part of a criminal syndicate were sentenced to prison before the Melbourne County Court late yesterday.
A 28-year-old Sunshine North man charged with a string of serious illicit drug offences, including trafficking illicit drugs and dealing with the proceeds of crime, was handed a jail term of 12 years with a non-parole period of six years.
His mother, a 57-year-old Deer Park woman charged with trafficking one kilogram of methamphetamine was handed a 10 year jail term with a non-parole period of seven years.
The pair were charged after a multi-agency law enforcement operation known as Operation Sunrise, an investigation into a large-scale heroin syndicate believed responsible for the importation of an estimated $20 million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs using international airline cabin crew, operating in Melbourne in 2018.
The Victoria 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 pair in December 2018 as part of a wider investigation into the criminal syndicate.
The JOCTF arrested the 57-year-old woman at her Deer Park home on 8 March, 2019, after she facilitated the sale of a kilogram of methamphetamine to a co-accused, that was then delivered by her son, the 28-year-old man, on 12 December, 2018.
The man was arrested at his Sunshine North home on 8 January, 2019, after he delivered the methamphetamine to a co-accused, while also providing an additional five kilograms of methamphetamine to the same co-accused on the 8 January, 2019.
