A young man has been jailed for eight years over his role in attempting to smuggle eight kilograms of cocaine past a Queensland COVID-19 border checkpoint.
Bryce Steven Watson, 28, of Buderim, faced Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday having earlier pleaded guilty to possessing the cocaine, some cannabis, MDMA tablets and drug paraphernalia.
On October 30, 2020 Watson was a front seat passenger in a car driven by his co-offender when they were stopped by police at a COVID-19 checkpoint on the Pacific Motorway at Tugun, south of the Gold Coast.
Police saw various items in the car that seemed inconsistent with the co-offender's reason for having been in NSW.
Prior to being searched, Watson told police he had a bong in his backpack and a sniffer dog found the item along with small amounts of cannabis and MDMA.
In the boot of the car, police found eight packages of cocaine that we wrapped in duct tape within a Woolworths cooler bag that was inside a sports bag rolled up in a swag.
The packages contained a total of 8030.9 grams of cocaine with a purity of between 36.1 and 37.9 per cent.
The amount of pure cocaine within the packages had a street value estimated at up to $720,000.
The crown prosecutor said Watson should be jailed for eight to nine years to denounce his offending, particularly as it involved large amount of hard drugs.
Watson's barrister Jason Buckland said his client had committed the offences when he was aged 26 and was unemployed for the first time in his life due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"(Watson) was also using cocaine ... He has since put his head down, returned to employment and found stable accommodation," Mr Buckland said.
"This sort of conduct is out of his usual character; he is unlikely to reoffend. Apart from this incident he has been a worthwhile member of society."
Justice Frances Williams said Watson has aimed to "share in the spoils of success of delivery" of the cocaine while exposing the community to a lot of potential harm.
"You were aware your co-offender was going to collect eight kilograms of cocaine from NSW and drive back across the border to Queensland," Justice Williams said.
"You were present to assist as a co-driver on the trip. For assisting, your co-offender agreed to pay you half the $31,000 he had been promised."
Justice Williams said the sheer amount of drugs involved required Watson spend time in custody and jailed him for eight years.
The judge said he had taken into account Watson's age, early guilty plea and lack of a prior criminal record by setting a parole eligibility date at less than a third into his sentence on April 6, 2025.
Watson was given time served credit for the total six days he has spent on remand.
