Esther Lauaki
By Esther Lauaki
A Brimbank mother and son have been convicted and sentenced to prison for supplying and trafficking a commercial quantity of methamphetamine as part of a criminal syndicate.
The duo appeared before the Melbourne County Court on October 28.
The 28-year-old Sunshine North man, charged with a string of serious illicit drug offences, including trafficking illicit drugs and dealing the proceeds of crime, was handed a jail term of 12 years with a non-parole period of six years.
The 57-year-old Deer Park woman, charged with trafficking one kilogram of methamphetamine, was handed a 10-year jail term with a non-parole period of seven years.
The pair were charged following a multi-agency law enforcement operation, known as Operation Sunrise, which investigated a large-scale heroin syndicate operating in Melbourne in 2018 and believed to be responsible for the importation of an estimated $20 million dollars of illicit drugs using international airline cabin crew.
The Victoria Joint Organised Crime Taskforce – comprising Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Border Force , Victoria Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission – launched enquiries into the pair in December 2018 as part of a wider investigation into the criminal syndicate.
Taskforce members arrested the woman at her Deer Park home on March 8, 2019, after she facilitated the sale of a kilogram of methamphetamine to a co-accused, that was then delivered by her son on December 12, 2018.
The man was arrested at his Sunshine North home on January 8, 2019, after he delivered the methamphetamine to a co-accused, while also providing an additional five kilograms of methamphetamine to the same co-accused.
