A New South Wales woman caught near Deloraine with $2 million worth of drugs and cash was a courier expecting to be paid $20,000, the Supreme Court heard.
Acting Justice David Porter sentenced Kylie Ann Durban, 48, of Padstow, after she pleaded guilty to trafficking in a controlled substance between February 22 and March 3, 2021.
He said that police set up a taskforce in December 2020 looking at the importation of ice (methylamphetamine) into Tasmania by a Gold Coast syndicate run by a woman he dubbed AB.
Durban travelled to Tasmania with a co-accused woman referred to as MY on the Spirit of Tasmania in Durban's black Holden Commodore on February 22. She traveled to Hobart the next day and met AB in a Hobart hotel room in which listening devices were installed.
Discussions with AB were recorded in which it was revealed Durban would be paid $20,000 and police heard evidence of a cash-counting machine.
There was discussion of the method of handling drugs and cash including double bagging and putting cash in cryovac bags.
Acting Justice Porter said Durban was involved in the drop-off of drugs and the picking up of cash in Hobart.
"You were a courier, a fairly active one while in Tasmania ... with amounts of drugs and money involved was very considerable," he said.
He said some of the drugs were to be taken back to the mainland because of purity issues.
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They were pulled over near Deloraine and a search found $9000 cash in one of Durban's shoes.
Police also found three separate packages of ice weighing a total of 1.3 kilograms which if sold in amounts of .1 of a gram would have been worth $1,297,400 or $400,000 if sold in larger amounts.
Police also found eight cryovacced bags containing a total of $762,486.
In July Durban told police in an interview that AB had made her a $5000 offer to deliver drugs and bring back cash which she initially refused. However, AB persisted with a higher offer of $20,000 and at a low point in her life she accepted.
Acting Justice Porter said that a motorcycle gang was involved in the pack in cash and drugs in Durban's car.
"She has been of significant assistance to police and will be called as a witness in an upcoming trial," he said.
"She deeply regrets her decision to be involved."
Acting Justice Porter said methylamphetamine was a highly addictive substance which caused great harm to individuals and the community.
"The trade generally causes crimes of violence and dishonesty."
He said that general deterrence was a weighty sentencing factor.
"You made a considered decision to become involved in a significant enterprise to earn money," he said.
He sentenced her to two years and nine months in jail backdated to when she was taken into custody on March 3, 2021.
He discounted her sentence by 20 per cent for her guilty plea and ordered she not be eligible for parole until she had served 17 months.
The cash seized was forfeited to the State under an unexplained wealth declaration.
Police at the time of Durban's arrest in March said she was pulled over on the Bass Highway as part of a random breath test operation.
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Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
