Liam McNally
A Caroline Springs Woman has been sentenced to nine years and two months in prison for trafficking more than two kilograms of heroin and methamphetamine.
County court Judge Carolene Gwynn described the defendant, Thi Loan Ngo, as a “wholesaler” who between September 9 and October 19, 2020 trafficked 1430.1 grams of heroin and 777.7 grams of methamphetamine valued at an estimated $833,000 when sold by the ounce.
The court heard how Ngo, now age 48, came to Australia as a refugee from Vietnam in 1983 with her adoptive grandparents. She attended Footscray Primary School and commenced secondary schooling at Melbourne Girls College in Richmond but left after falling pregnant at 14.
Ngo’s involvement in the drug trade began after she developed a gambling addiction – amassing $120,000 in debt to “loan sharks” she’d met at the casino by 2009.
When Ngo could not furnish interest repayments to the loan sharks, she was offered the role of “heroin mule” as a mechanism to pay her debts.
Previous convictions for drug trafficking in 2009, 2012 and 2014 are said to relate to this arrangement.
Ngo instructed her lawyers that in 2014 she told the loan sharks she would no longer traffick on their behalf. In response an arrangement was made for her to pay $500 per month without interest accruing.
The mother of three, who cares for a daughter with an intellectual disability and autism, said in 2020 she had no work due to the pandemic and still owing $140,000, “stupidly accepted the role of getting involved with drugs”.
Judge Gwynn said the explanation provided context but that she found it difficult to accept.
“Your offending demonstrates the ease with which you fell into old habits and a lack of insight of the impact of your offending on the community,” the judge said.
Ngo pleaded guilty and was sentenced earlier this month over two counts of trafficking a commercial quantity of a drug of dependence and one charge of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The judge set a non-parole period of six years and two months.
