Two British drug smugglers have each been jailed for more than 20 years for their role in a failed international plot to import a ton of drugs worth half a billion pounds into Australia.
Graham Palmer, 37, and Scott Jones, 38, were part of the gang that attempted to smuggle cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy into the country before their yacht ran aground and an elephant seal blocked them as they tried to flee from police.
The pair were sentenced today in the Australian Supreme Court along with US citizen Jason Lassiter, 47, and Angus Jackson, 53, of New South Wales, after their comic robbery led them into the hands of police.
The group attempted their daring plot in September 2019 after hatching the plan in Thailand, and Palmer, along with skipper Antoine Dicenta, 53, who has admitted his guilt but has not yet been convicted, set sail from Madagascar.
Their yacht called Zero retrieved 380kg of cocaine, 344kg of MDMA and 171kg of methamphetamine in a South African port worth an estimated one billion Australian dollars (£570bn), then Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said.
Jason Lassiter, Angus Jackson, Scott Jones (left to right) jailed for plotting to smuggle a ton of drugs into Australia
The yacht Zero is listed as it ran aground in the Abrolhos Islands during the botched drug transfer
The police found 40 duffel bags with the individually wrapped drug packages in the seaweed
But during the transfer of the drugs, Dicenta accidentally started answering his phone while discussing the plot.
He was heard to say, “You have to put it in before the other boat comes… this isn’t cocaine, this is the other thing, it’s not heavy at all.”
Prosecutors later described it as the “worst butt dial in history.”
The pair traveled by sea for six weeks in treacherous conditions, eventually arriving in the Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Geraldton in western Australia, where they planned to transfer the catch to a local boat.
Lassiter, Jackson and Jones were waiting for the other ship called DW 140 in the archipelago, which is infamous for its shallow reefs, whose name roughly translates to “open your eyes” in Portuguese as a warning to sailors.
Dicenta and Palmer’s yacht Zero predictably stalled as they approached, leaving their ton of drugs with them.
Their yacht called Zero retrieved 380 kg of cocaine, 344 kg of MDMA and 171 kg of methamphetamine in a South African port
The passengers of the two separate boats sent messages desperately, one of which said, “A mile astray…we have no control where we end up.”
Fearing exposure on their yacht, Dicenta and Palmer transferred the drugs themselves to a small tender and made their way to Burton Island, attempting to hide the drugs in seaweed overnight.
The comic plot then took another turn when the DW 140 boat of their conspirators that came to their aid also ran aground and was forced to wait for the tide to rise.
As dawn broke, fishermen spotted the abandoned Zero yacht and alerted authorities, triggering a rescue mission.
A group sailing nearby then saw one of the two on Burton Island wave to them and approach, only to find that he was, in fact, driving them away.
The witnesses alerted the police and Dicenta and Palmer tried to flee, but were unable to because an elephant seal blocked their way.
They woke up the large animal that bared its chest and howled at the now terrified smugglers, who chose to surrender to the police rather than try to take it down.
Police discovered a 15-foot unmanned yacht (pictured) stranded on a reef before launching a sea search that would have led them to the drug on nearby Burton Island
Police also found 40 duffel bags containing the individually wrapped drug packages among the seaweed.
While they were being taken into custody, police spotted and noted the DW 140 boat and tracked it to Jackson, while the other trio were arrested the next day.
They denied any knowledge of the drug deal, saying they were just on a “boys fishing trip.”
But now they have all been found guilty in court.
Palmer was given a 22-year sentence with a 15-year unconditional sentence, and Jones was sentenced to 25 years with a minimum of 17 years.
Jackson and Lassiter were each sentenced to 33 years in prison and a minimum of 23 years behind bars.
Former Police Assistant Commissioner Col Blanch said the drugs would have made their way to Australia had it not been for the clumsy smugglers.
Justice Corboy said the men were not the linchpin of the operation but had acted as couriers in the “highly sophisticated” network undermined by their mistakes.