A mother and son criminal duo will spend at least the next 6-7 years behind bars after being convicted for dealing in drugs by a Melbourne court.
They were convicted for supplying and trafficking a commercial quantity of methamphetamine as part of a criminal syndicate and were sentenced before the Melbourne County Court.
String of serious drug offences
The son, a 28-year-old from Sunshine North, was charged with a string of serious illicit drug offences, including trafficking illicit drugs and dealing with the proceeds of crime. He was handed a jail term of 12 years with a non-parole period of six years.
His mom, a 57-year-old from Deer Park, was charged with trafficking one kilogram of methamphetamine and was given a 10-year jail term with a non-parole period of seven years.
The pair were charged after a multi-agency law enforcement operation known as Operation Sunrise, an investigation into a large-scale heroin syndicate believed responsible for the importation of an estimated $20-million dollars’ worth of illicit drugs using international airline cabin crew.
Investigation launched in 2018
According to authorities, the syndicate operated in Melbourne in 2018.
The Victoria Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (JOCTF) – comprising Australian Federal Police, 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 syndicate.
The JOCTF arrested the woman at her home on 8 March 2019, after she facilitated the sale of a kilogram of methamphetamine to a co-accused, which was then delivered by her son on 12 December, 2018.
Another big bust by the JOCTF
Officers arrested the son on 8 January, 2019, after he delivered his mother’s methamphetamine consignment to a co-accused, while also providing an additional five kilograms of methamphetamine to the same co-accused.
Last month the JOCTF arrested three Melbourne men and seized around 100 kilograms of methamphetamine worth an estimated $52.5million.
Officers found several barrels of liquid methamphetamine and what investigators say were “significant precursor chemicals”, indicating that a large-scale clandestine drug laboratory was under construction.
