NZ grandfather Raemon Parkinson sentenced over $2m Melbourne drug bust

The Australian

3 days ago

An elderly man has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for his role in a heroin smuggling plot after police found $2m worth of the drug in his suitcase at Melbourne Airport.
New Zealand national Raemon Parkinson, 72, was found guilty by a jury for smuggling a commercial quantity of heroin inside the base of a handbag.
The grandfather was sentenced to spend nine years and six months in prison, with a non-parole period of six years – when he will be almost 80.
Judge Krista Breckweg noted that Parkinson he had already served two years in pre-sentence detention.
The drugs were discovered when Parkinson arrived at Melbourne Airport on a flight from the Filipino capital Manila, where an Australian Border Force officer found a tan handbag inside a suitcase that had heroin concealed within its base.
When Parkinson was told by customs about the alleged importations he reportedly said 'hey' and when asked if he understood the allegation told the officer 'nope'.
'I'll state categorically right now, I had – I've got no knowledge that whatever is illegal is in them, I have no knowledge of it,' he reportedly said.
Parkinson documented his bizarre smuggling efforts in a series of messages with his wife Luana Parkinson and a person going by the name of Edward Perry.
As Parkinson left New Zealand on a flight to Manila, his wife, using an account named 'LuP', sent him a message saying 'Drug runner (male symbol)' and another saying 'Call wen u n Melb'.
He went on to send a message to his wife from Manila saying 'Hau … Gotta make t big score b4 cme hme owise waste tme cmg here.'
When on the way back to Australia he sent images of the suitcase and handbag accompanied by messages 'Te drugs case …' and 'Ano …' – meaning 'another'.
In his defence, Parkinson argued that the messages were a series of facetious running jokes between a married couple.
'Clearly, the jury did not accept your version of events, and you were convicted of the charge,' Judge Breckweg said.
The defence argued that Mr Parkinson was tricked into becoming a mule as part of an elaborate scam in which he was promised $30m in cryptocurrency as payment for the importation of $2m worth of the drug.
Ultimately, the jury found he had intentionally imported the substance and was reckless as to it being a drug.
Judge Breckweg accepted that Parkinson's role was 'akin to a courier', but he 'nevertheless performed an integral role' in the plot.
'You also took the risk in the face of what were, in my view, clear signals along the way that there was a real or significant chance there were drugs in the suitcase you were given, but you went ahead anyway,' she said.
No charges have been laid against Ms Parkinson or the person going by the name of Mr Perry and neither are accused of any wrongdoing. Brendan Kearns Cadet Journalist
Brendan Kearns is a cadet journalist with News Corp Australia. He has written for The Australian, the Herald Sun, the Geelong Advertiser, CHOICE, Cosmos, and The Citizen. He won Democracy's Watchdogs' Student Award for Investigative Journalism 2024 and hosted the third season of award-winning podcast Uncurated. He studied as Master of Journalism at The University of Melbourne, before that he worked as a video producer and disability worker. Breaking News
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