Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
National
Rex Martinich

Olympic kayaker pleads guilty to cocaine import attempt

Olympian Nathan Baggaley has followed his brother in admitting an attempted $200m cocaine import. (Nikki Short/AAP PHOTOS)

An Olympic silver medallist has admitted a bungled effort to smuggle about $200 million worth of cocaine days before he was due to stand trial alongside his brother.

Ex-champion kayaker Nathan Baggaley, 48, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday to one count of attempting to import a commercial quantity of drugs.

His brother Dru Baggaley, 42, pleaded guilty to the same charge on Wednesday.

Both men declined to say anything further after replying "guilty" when asked how they would plead to their charges.

Justice Declan Kelly adjourned the matter until a suitable date could be found where both the brothers' barristers would be available for a sentencing hearing.

Dru and Nathan Baggaley returned to custody ahead of their sentencing.

Dru Baggaley and another man were intercepted by the navy in July 2018 after using a seven-metre inflatable boat to pick up 650kg of cocaine from a ship 360km off Australia's east coast.

Dru Baggaley was seen by navy surveillance jettisoning parcels into the sea, some of which washed ashore at various locations off the east coast of Australia.

The inflatable boat, which was launched from Brunswick Heads on the NSW north coast, had been purchased by Nathan Baggaley and registered in his name.

Nathan Baggaley (file image)
Nathan Baggaley won two silver medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics along with three world titles. (Julian Smith/AAP PHOTOS)

The brothers were previously found guilty of attempting to import cocaine by a Brisbane Supreme Court jury in April 2021.

Dru Baggaley was sentenced to 28 years' imprisonment and his brother 25 years.

They both later won appeals against their convictions and were ordered to face a retrial that was due to start on October 28.

The Court of Appeal in 2023 found Dru Baggaley was not given the sufficient opportunity at trial to respond to allegations that he had been in possession of an encrypted phone that had received messages from a user named "Thunderbutt" about organising a cocaine import.

The court this year found Nathan Baggaley's conviction was unsound as the jury was not properly instructed to avoid its guilty verdict from being dependent on his brother being found guilty first.

Nathan Baggaley won two silver medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics along with three world titles.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.