By Ewen McRae
A man who tried to import more than six kilograms of heroin hidden with vases from Thailand has been sentenced to eight years jail.
Thanh Le plead guilty in the County Court to importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
The court was told Le imported three packages to an address in St Albans in 2016 that were found to contain 6.19 kilograms of pure heroin – a wholesale value of about $3.12 million.
Between April 1 and June 1, three separate packages which arrived from Thailand were found to have bags of a white substance hidden in their wall cavities.
The first two packages remained in police custody, but the third package had the drugs removed and replaced with an inert substance and a listening device.
Police then began surveillance at the delivery address in St Albans.
Police observed Le visiting the St Albans house eight times on the day of the delivery, before a police officer posing as a courier delivered the package and Le signed for it.
Le was observed taking the package to his home. Police entered the home soon after and found the package locked in a bedroom.
The court heard there was also a phone with details for the package and a large red-coloured hydraulic press in the garage to which a drug detection dog displayed a positive reaction.
The court heard the press was of a type used to compress heroin into blocks for sale.
Le initially denied any involvement in the first two consignments, but later pleaded guilty to importing all three packages.
The court heard Le had become involved in drug importation because of financial difficulties.
However Judge Claire Quin said that did not mitigate the impacts of the drugs on the community and a strong message had to be sent to other would-be criminals.
“General deterrence has an important role to play to discourage others,” she said.
Le will be eligible for parole in 2023.
