Jail over largest hash seizure

[F420]

Jail over largest hash seizure

November 11, 2004

 

FIVE men found guilty of possessing the largest quantity of hashish seized in Victoria have been jailed for at least five years.

 

A Victorian County Court jury found the men were knowingly involved in unloading three tonnes of cannabis resin, with a street value of about $140 million, on August 14, 2001.

 

They unloaded the drug – which was labelled as Finnish coffee – from a shipping container in Campbellfield that had been tracked by the Australian Federal Police.

 

An earlier hearing was told that the men were allegedly associates of murdered crime figure Lewis Moran.

 

David Ciampoli, 44, of Avondale Heights, Robert Cetrangolo, 34, of Essendon, Paul Pratico 36, of Oak Park and Tony Crnac, 37, of Footscray were sentenced to seven-and-a-half years jail with a non-parole period of five years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jessie Luke Franco, 35, of Essendon, who out of the five men was described as having the largest role in the operation, was jailed for nine years with a non-parole period of six years.

 

The court was told the cannabis resin was labelled as Finnish coffee and concealed in two shipping containers beneath black marble tiles.

 

Judge Meryl Sexton said she was satisfied that each of the men, who were found guilty of possessing a commercial quantity of a prohibited import, did know about the cannabis resin before going to the yard that night.

 

She said while the criminals behind the importation of the huge drug haul had not yet been dealt with, a sentence needed to be imposed which deterred "underlings" from performing the "dirty work" for criminal organisers.

 

"A sentence for possession of a prohibited import needs to deter others like you from agreeing to take on the menial tasks which are still an important part of such an operation," Judge Sexton said.

 

AAP

[FlowerPower]

"A sentence for possession of a prohibited import needs to deter others like you from agreeing to take on the menial tasks which are still an important part of such an operation," Judge Sexton said.

In other words...We cant get the Big Man, so we'll f@ck you instead.

[WantDaChronic]

i reckon they should have given me the job of disposing of the hash :whistling

[Pickle]

Even when you have the big fish they slip through your fingers.

 

I've said before that pigs keep targeting people growing barely enough to keep themselves in greens and out of the criminal scene and think they are busting mr bigs. A bust like this just goes to show how full of shit they are, a bust like this shows what realy is a commercial quantity.

 

But then again, maybe they are starting to pull their heads out of the sand because they are now coming up with the piss poor excuse for busting small, personal growers of, "We want the small, personal growers because it's still illegal" instead of, "we don't want the small, personal growers, we want the mr bigs".

 

Even considering all this, with all the corruption, we all know there is going to be a shitload of hash hitting the streets real soon.

 

Plod, you're a fucking sham.

[Luke Skywalker]

Not just a sham, but a criminal gang with government sanction essentially. They choose which drug dealers are allowed to operate and who and what they take down. It's sorta like the containment theory they had for prostitution over here a while ago. It's illegal, but we let certain operators alone because they aren't causing trouble for us.

 

See, if drugs were legalised and available to the drug using public in a clean, government health regulated form, that would destroy the black market. They don't want the black market gone, they make too much money out of it.

 

Makes me sooooo angry.

 

GROW YOUR OWN AND SCREW THE REST!

[WantDaChronic]

got me really pissed off too luke :thumbdown

[free choice]

what does 3 tonnes of hash look like ?.....

 

wow .... 3000 kilograms -- or 3,000,000 grams ....

 

so $140,000,000 = $46 a gramm

 

what does hash cost on the street , anyone know ?

Edited November 15, 2004 by free choice

[risingsun]

Price would depend on where it was sold! I would guess that in Sydney $50 A gram wouldnt be far off.

 

Ive got alot of sympathy for those guys doing at least 5 years. This is just specualtion but I cant see them being paid more than a grand for offloading. And I dont know that it is so clear that they knew what they were getting into unless they were part of the conspiracy to import unlikely as it is. So five years for the guys unloading the crates. Because they havent got the leaders. Does that mean if they get the leaders then the sentences will be less. What a system!

[quizywig]

I think the whole illegality issue with drugs is a con on us, the mr bigs are generaly suits, lawyers businessmen and politiicans, the illegaltiy is just a way to control us, how many jobs have drug testing now, only the real workers though, how often do they test the suits for drugs, not to mention the legal and encouraged use of alcohol, Ive had to work with people who are pissed in the past its usually laughed off, id rather work with someone with a bongover than a hangover,

I agree with Luke's comment about legalise drugs, I think all drugs should be legal its the only way to to kill the blackmarket, have all the chemical users registerd at a local GP were they can get a regular clean fix, the rest of us can grow a few plants for personal,

How long would the black market last if all the drugies went to the Dr to get a fix of whatever they need, for a start its hard to make new users under a system like this so within a couple of years the whole drug industrie will be a non-event.

But of course we'd need the pollies and suits to go along with this, I wonder why the dont? $$$$$$

[rosscopico0]

What I would like to see is the sniffer dogs being sent into corporate skyscrapers to get all the cokeheads.........but instead they target the potsmoker, who is generally lower in the socio-economic order & are in many cases, less aware of their rights.

 

I have decided to move to the Netherlands or Amsterdam within the year, cause Im fed up with this bullshit!!