In short:
Two men have been sentenced to 13 years in prison after collecting almost 500 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a yacht in Townsville in 2023.
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men → sentence → 2023
The court heard the couple drilled into the vessel's hull to remove the drugs, worth about $121 million.
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couple → hear → drugs
Their sentence includes a non-parole period of five and a half years.
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sentence → include → years
A French couple who collected almost 500 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside a yacht that sailed to Townsville from the South Pacific have been jailed for 13 years.
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that → collect → years
Rachid Kachour and Matthieu Rees pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court in Brisbane today to possessing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
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Kachour → plead → drug
During their sentencing hearing the court heard the men, who were aged 54 and 44 at the time, had been in a relationship for decades, and had been living in the Australian Capital Territory before they offended.
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they → hear → Territory
In May 2023, the court heard they travelled to Townsville, and once there, used a drill to access the hull of a yacht docked in the marina, which was concealing hundreds of packages of cocaine.
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which → hear → cocaine
They hired a van, and over several days removed the drugs, and took them to a safe house, before patching the damage they caused from the retrieval, the court heard.
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court → hire → retrieval
Commonwealth prosecutor Jacob Robson told the court the men collected an "exceptionally large quantity of cocaine".
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men → tell → cocaine
The court heard the drug had 80.6 per cent purity and a street value of $121 million dollars.
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drug → hear → dollars
Mr Robson told the court it was accepted the men initially did not know what type of drug they were tasked to move or how much.
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they → tell → drug
"Ultimately the amount that they retrieved was significantly greater than either initially anticipated," he said.
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he → retrieve → that
"Nevertheless, when they were contacted they both knowingly undertook to recover a border-controlled drug."
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they → contact → drug
Mr Robson described their role as being "subordinate" and said they were motivated by financial gain, as they received a $300,000 payment.
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they → describe → payment
"It's not suggested that they had any part in the actual importation venture," he said.
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he → suggest → venture
'A bit disturbing' yacht left without surveillance
The court heard when the yacht arrived in Queensland from Vanuatu in April, it raised suspicion by the Australian Border Force (ABF), which restricted its movement.
During the weeks it was docked, there was no surveillance of the yacht by authorities, the court heard.
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court → leave → authorities
Mr Robson told the court the men were only caught after it was checked on months later.
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it → tell → court
"When the police came back in July, they found that it had all been disturbed … and obviously stuff had been removed," he said.
"
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he → come → July
They were able to work out by the records of the marina and CCTV records exactly what had happened."
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what → work → marina
Justice Peter Callaghan said this was "a bit disturbing" given it was being investigated as being suspicious.
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it → say → ?
"They obviously didn't have the resources to keep the thing under observation," he said.
"With the result, that all these hundreds of kilograms of cocaine have been allowed into the community.
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hundreds → have → community
"It makes you wonder, people talk about getting tough on drugs."
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people → make → drugs
Defence lawyer for Rees, Scott Lynch told the court his client was a dual citizen who had "limited" involvement in the plot.
"
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who → tell → plot
They received a call to go up and assist with access to the vessel," he said
"That instruction came from a cousin of the co-accused overseas."
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instruction → receive → accused
Suki Bloom, who represented Kachour, echoed that her client "sits at the lower end of the hierarchy" in the operation.
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client → represent → operation
"It's really something of pack and unpack," she said.
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she → unpack → pack
Ms Bloom told the court Kachour was a permanent resident but would likely have his visa cancelled and would face deportation to France once he left custody.
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he → tell → custody
She said he welcomed this, as he had suffered hardship in jail due to speaking limited English which caused him to be "very isolated".
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him → say → English
"He is very keen to return home," she said.
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she → return → ?
The court heard both men have spent just over three years in custody since their arrest and neither had a criminal history.
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neither → hear → history
They were sentenced to 13 years in prison with a non-parole period of five and a half years.
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They → sentence → years
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