A NEWCASTLE man who set up a fake company and website and leased a warehouse at Mayfield West so he could act as a front man for a transnational crime syndicate that imported 500 kilograms of methamphetamine into Australia from South Korea has been jailed for a maximum of 15 years.
Brent McLaughlin, now 40, and other members of the syndicate used the encrypted ANOM app to discuss the operation - nicknamed "the Orient" - and McLaughlin registered business Australian Engineering Machinery & Parts (AEMP) to import seven consignments of heavy machinery between July 2020 and May 2021.
The first three consignments contained machinery, dummy runs to establish a seemingly legitimate business and avoid detection from authorities.
But the next four consignments contained a total of 498kg of methamphetamine, with a street value of $312 million.
The first two drug importations - containing a total of 270kg of ice concealed inside hollowed out helical gear drives - were successfully imported, making it through customs without alerting the Australian Border Force.
McLaughlin had hired a legitimate freight forwarding company to bring the packages to the commercial warehouse at Pambalong Drive at Mayfield West, where he had installed an elaborate security system without the knowledge of the owner.
The syndicate then arranged for the methamphetamine to be moved to another warehouse at Cardiff and were "waiting for an optimum time to distribute the drugs into the community so to maximise their profits".
Meanwhile, McLaughlin and the other shadowy crime figures, who all used ANOM handles to communicate, were discussing the importation of the next two consignments, which would contain 270 kilograms of ice.
But this time, when the helical gears were x-rayed at Port Botany, the Australian Border Force detected "anomalies".
The packages were referred to the Australian Federal Police, who broke down the consignments and found the methamphetamine secreted inside the hollowed out machinery.
As the "front man" for the operation, McLaughlin's contact number and email were on the consignments and he received what must have been a terrifying phone call from an Australian Federal Police officer in May, 2021.
McLaughlin was later spoken to at the Mayfield West warehouse, where police searched the dummy consignments, but later released without charge.
But once police found the Cardiff warehouse and discovered the massive haul of methamphetamine he was arrested and refused bail.
McLaughlin once worked in insurance and made $250,000 a year but spent it all on a lavish lifestyle, Judge Gina O'Rourke said on Friday.
When he lost his job he spiralled into cocaine addiction, accruing a $30,000 drug debt and between $100,000 and $200,000 in credit card debt.
He took a role in the syndicate to clear the debts and denied knowing he was involved in drug importation until someone else was arrested and said by that stage he was "in too deep to back out".
Judge O'Rourke doubted those claims and said he knew what he was importing and played a "critical role" in the enterprise.
"He was entrusted to do a good deal of the logistics and arrangements concerning the seven consignments," Judge O'Rourke said. "It was sophisticated, well organised and complex. "However, he placed himself at the most risk by having the false company and warehouse directly linked to him. While it is very difficult to put a label on it, the offender clearly played a more significant role than a courier. He was trusted and was to my mind somewhere between the mid and senior levels of the syndicate."
Judge O'Rourke jailed McLaughlin for a maximum of 15 years, with a non-parole period of eight years and six months.
With time served since his arrest, he will be eligible for parole in November 2029.
