Three accused of trying to smuggle 95kg of cocaine into Sydney on Sea Princess

[Jabberwocky]

THREE Canadians are accused of trying to smuggle 95kg of cocaine into Sydney on a cruise ship after an operation between Australian, New Zealand, US and Canadian authorities.

The 63-year-old man and two women, age 23 and 28, were arrested on Sunday after police and sniffer dogs searched the vessel when it berthed in Sydney and found cocaine in suitcases.

The ship began the cruise in Britain at the start of July and visited Canada, the United States, parts of South America, including Colombia and Peru, and Auckland before it docked in Sydney.

The Australian Federal Police say the trio will face Sydney Local Court on Monday charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine. They face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The joint operation by the AFP and Australian Border Force received co-operation from the US Department of Homeland Security Investigations, New Zealand Customs Service and the Canada Border Services Agency.

The AFP has not ruled out further arrests


Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...s/news-story/28fee6aa6b3c32e74aa12a970b2b3e8e

 

[poledriver]

 

[poledriver]

Kelly Fedor ‏@KellyFedor 15m15 minutes ago

Police say the #cocaine found on the cruise ship is worth $31M. Found in two cabins after three Canadians were deemed "high risk."

@9NewsSyd

Kelly Fedor ‏@KellyFedor 14m14 minutes ago

The three Canadians boarded the ship in England, AFP is investigating if the drugs came on board during stops in South America.

@9NewsSyd

 

[szuko000]

well this definitely makes me reconsider bringing a personal amount of something on a cruise ship... i mean if they cant detect almost 100Kg of cocaine i shouldnt have a problem with a few tabs LOL

Also I am not a "high risk" Canadian, I am a low risk American they will probably search me for guns.

 

[poledriver]

Canadian tourists’ dream cruise ends with arrest and Australia’s biggest drug bust

MELINA Roberge’s Instagram account reads simply: “Currently travelling”. But that’s not entirely true.
The 22-year-old Canadian spent almost two months in paradise throughout July and August. On her social media accounts, she shared pictures drinking from coconuts and posing in front of turquoise waters in her bikini.
She was travelling with Isabelle Legace, 28, and Andre Tamine, 63, aboard the $20,000-a-head MS Sea Princess, stopping in idyllic locations including French Polynesia, Chile, Ecuador and sunny Bermuda.

“Monday mood,” she wrote beneath a picture of her feet in crystal clear waters four weeks ago.
A day earlier, at Manta, Ecuador, she posted a picture of herself above cliffs by the ocean. She wrote: “In my top five for sure.”
She got tattooed in French Polynesia and rode a quad bike in Peru, but the holiday of a lifetime could be her last.

When the Sea Princess docked at Sydney’s international terminal at Circular Quay, Australian Border Force officials were waiting to welcome her.
They posted a picture of their own: the contents of her suitcase. Inside the suitcases of all three Quebecers the officers allegedly found bag upon bag of cocaine. They estimate between them the trio had allegedly hauled about 95kg of the white powder into Sydney, a stash worth around $30 million on the street.

Beneath a post on Roberge’s Instagram account on August 27, after news of her arrest, followers mocked her.

“Currently travelling to prison,” one wrote.
“Nap with one eye open in prison,” another wrote.

The arrests carry with them the possibility of life in prison. Australian Border Force released a statement warning international drug syndicates would not get away with smuggling drugs into Australia.
“These syndicates should be on notice that the Australian Border Force is aware of all of the different ways they attempt to smuggle drugs into our country and we are working with a range of international agencies to stop them,” assistant commissioner Clive Murray said.

Cont -

http://www.news.com.au/travel/trave...t/news-story/f833d793a48d7c805174c068044ed6db

 

[S.J.B.]

Quebec's 'cocaine babes,' imprisoned in Australia, may have been pawns in a much larger game
CBC
October 25th, 2018

Melina Roberge sits in a prison in a suburb of Sydney, Australia, 16,000 kilometres from the little Quebec town where she grew up.

She is 25 years old and homesick. Even if she makes parole, it will be at least two years before she gets out.

When Roberge addressed a Sydney courtroom at her sentencing hearing for drug smuggling last March, her long brown hair pulled back into a bun, she admitted that she did it for the likes.

...

The Australian tabloids called the women the "cocaine babes," revelling in details about the seemingly lavish lifestyle they enjoyed before their arrests.

But an investigation by Radio-Canada's investigative program Enquete has revealed new information about the case, including the identity of the man who might have tipped off the authorities, details about Roberge's mysterious "Sugar Daddy," and a suggestion that Roberge and Lagace were simply pawns in a much larger game.

Read the full story here.

 

[S.J.B.]

Quebec man sentenced to 8 years, 5 months in Australian prison for smuggling cocaine
CBC
December 17th, 2018

A Quebec man has been sentenced to eight years and five months in prison for his involvement in an international drug smuggling operation, after he was arrested in 2016 along with two young Quebec women posing as travellers.

Andre Tamine, 65, was convicted Monday for bringing several suitcases of cocaine into Australia on a luxury cruise ship.

Judge Catherine Traill of the Australian District Court of New South Wales revealed that Tamine had been offered €100,000, about CAN $150,000, to participate in the smuggling.

He was arrested on that ship, the MS Sea Princess, after being found with over 65 kilograms of cocaine once the ship had docked in Sydney in August of 2016.

Tamine was arrested along with fellow Quebecers M?lina Roberge and Isabelle Lagac?, two young women who made headlines around the world for posing as travellers on a luxury cruise, when in reality they were involved in an international drug-smuggling operation.

Read the full story here.