A British drug mule is facing at least 8 years in an Australian prison for smuggling ecstasy into the country in his luggage.
When he was offered more than AUD$9,200 to deliver a consignment of the party drug ecstasy to Australia he took the chance, British electrician Paul Robert Quinn told the Sydney District Court.
Cash-strapped Quinn now faces 8 years in jail after the poorly concealed drugs were found in his luggage at the Sydney airport in March.
The man pleaded guilty to a charge of importing a commercial quantity of a drug – a charge that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
On Friday, District Court Judge Greg Woods said that while Quinn was nothing more than a courier’, he was sentencing him to a maximum eight years jail and a minimum of five.
While the judge said that Quinn was not mentally impaired he added, “but if I could use a non-technical term, he is stupid.”
Investigators heard that Quinn hoped to find employment in Australia after delivery of the drugs. But Quinn also told a psychologist assigned to his case that he did in fact have an opportunity to find employment in Britain before he boarded the plane to Sydney.
The electrician told investigators he planned to scout out the local job market during his trip down under.