A jury has rejected claims that the son of a superyacht driver merely helped his father with shopping in a failed attempt to cocaine from the hull of a cargo ship.
James Lake-Kusviandy Blee, 24, conspired with his father, James Lake Blee, and two Brazilian divers to obtain a 57-kilogram package of cocaine on May 9, 2022.
The drugs were hidden in the hull of the Arti Gr Majura, from which soybean meal had been transported Argentina to the port of Newcastle.
A jury rejected the claim that James Lake-Kusviandy Blee was merely helping his father with grocery shopping. (9News)
Only one of the divers, Jhoni Fernandes Da Silva, returned to the surface and police found the body of his compatriot, Bruno Borges Martins, floating in Newcastle harbour.
Da Silva fled and was never captured Police.
Blee Jr. was found guilty Wednesday of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an illegally imported, border-controlled drug by jurors of Sydney’s Downing Center District Court.
His bail was immediately revoked.
James Lake-Kusviandy Blee, 24, conspired with his father, James Lake Blee, and two Brazilian divers to obtain a 57-kilogram package of cocaine on May 9, 2022. (Nine)
A package containing 42 individual packets of cocaine was wrapped in a black tarpaulin and found washed up on nearby Kooragang Island by water police.
NSW Police examined the packages and discovered that they contained almost 35 kilos of pure cocaine.
The divers were equipped with a variety of equipment, including rebreathers and seabobs, to dive down 10 meters and retrieve the drugs from a compartment on the cargo ship known as the sea chest, the jury heard.
Blee Jr. was found guilty of attempting to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported border-controlled drug by jurors at Sydney’s Downing Center District Court on Wednesday. (Nine)
Blee Jr denied knowledge of the plot and told the court he believed he was running errands for his father.
He traveled by yacht from Darwin Unpleasant Bali in Indonesia in February 2022.
Blee Sr then traveled to Dubaiwhere he met a man known to be Irish to get details about the drug plot.
In April 2022, father and son left Bali with the two divers on a yacht en route to Darwin.
A package containing 42 individual packets of cocaine was wrapped in a black tarpaulin and found washed up on nearby Kooragang Island by water police. (Nine)
After Martins failed to return from the harbor diving operation, Blee Jr. a one-way plane ticket back to his home on the Gold Coast.
He will be sentenced on July 24.
In November 2024, James Blake Blee was sentenced to eleven years and three months in prison for the crimes, with him eligible for parole after seven years and six months.
He pleaded guilty to importing the border-controlled drug and smuggling the two Brazilians into the country.
The divers were equipped with a variety of equipment, including rebreathers and seabobs, to dive down 10 meters and retrieve the drugs from a compartment on the cargo ship known as the sea chest, the jury heard. (Nine)
Blee Sr agreed to the plot in a gamble driven by financial stress after his company collapsed during the Depression Covid-19 pandemicthe court heard in 2024.
He will be eligible for parole in November 2029.
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