Colombian faces deportation over Canada meth import
Daniel Ricardo Pastor Pastor was found guilty on Wednesday in the Queensland Supreme Court of possessing drugs in a quantity exceeding 200 grams.
Justice Michael Copley told Pastor Pastor he had engaged in "reprehensible" behaviour by enlisting a person to unknowingly help him transport what he thought was drugs.
"You were cunning enough to take precautions ... you used an innocent person to assist you so you could get some money to move drugs from one (Brisbane suburb) to another," Justice Copley said.
Crown prosecutor Jacob Robson earlier told the jury the Australian Border Force had found 12kg of substance containing 8.99kg of pure methamphetamine in a consignment from Canada.
Mr Robson said the drug was "hidden in a complex manner" in five vehicle drive shafts.
Border Force removed the drugs and Pastor Pastor took delivery of the drive shafts in March 2021, taking them to a self-storage unit in the inner-Brisbane suburb of Newstead.
Defence barrister Matthew Jackson told the jury it was reasonable to believe that Pastor Pastor had no knowledge of the drugs.
The jury heard Pastor Pastor had granted police access to his encrypted text messages.
"This is the conduct of an innocent man," Mr Jackson said.
"It might be a suspicious way to get car parts, but the charge says possession of dangerous drugs and not car parts."
The jury took about two hours to reach their verdict following a trial that lasted two-and-a-half days this week.
The 35-year-old Gold Coast delivery driver was previously convicted of drug possession and aiding in the import of a commercial quantity of drugs.
The Court of Appeal overturned both convictions in October 2024 due to doubts over his knowledge of the import.
Justice Copley accepted Mr Jackson's submission that Pastor Pastor, though an economic migrant, faced hardship from deportation proceedings.
Pastor Pastor was sentenced to five years imprisonment that was immediately suspended due to him already spending two years and one month in custody.
As a non-Australian citizen, Pastor Pastor faces mandatory visa cancellation and deportation proceedings due to serving a custodial sentence of 12 months or more.
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