Mail-order drug dealer

Guilty plea just six months after prior conviction

A CONVICTED Highton drug trafficker relied on posties and couriers to unknowingly deliver hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs to his doorstep.

Federal Police caught Jay Robert Vince a year ago, intercepting nine packages bound for his Pinnacle Close address.

In a 25-day period they seized seven packages of amphetamine in powdered or paste form and two packs of brown crystal MDMA.

Commonwealth prosecu- tors told Geelong County Court on Thursday those packages contained 165.4g of pure amphetamine and 158.1g or pure MDMA, with a combined street value between $180,000 and $300,000.

Vince, now 24, has been in custody since his arrest on October 6 last year, and has pleaded guilty to seven charges, including counts of importing and possessing marketable quantities of the drugs.

His arrest came just six months after he was convicted of trafficking MDMA.

Judge Susan Cohen ordered Vince be assessed for a community corrections order before sentencing, but told the defendant not to get his hopes up that he was about to walk out of jail.

The Commonwealth has urged her to jail Vince for at least another two years, while his lawyers say the year he has spent in custody should be enough.

Vince was uncovered by AFP officers monitoring the importation of border-controlled drugs from The Netherlands to Australia as part of Operation Thrupe.

When they raided his Highton home they found more drugs, as well as silver bullion and coins from the Australian Bullion Company, a box labelled ‘capsule machine’ and computers.

The drugs on the premises were 78.2g of MDMA, 65.6g of magic mushrooms, 300g of cannabis, 13.8g of amphet- amine and less than a gram of LSD.

Aside from admitting the drugs and other items were his, Vince did not comment in his interview that day, the court was told.

Judge Cohen is expecting a complex task when she weighs up what penalty to impose on the man, who has pleaded guilty to a combination of state and Commonwealth charges.

While technically considered a ‘young offender’ in the eyes of the law, Vince’s prior drug convictions are likely to count against his bid for a prompt release.

Prosecutors also argued evidence of the man’s own drug addiction and naive nature should not deter Judge Cohen from delivering a sentence that “sends a message to the community” about the consequences of drug importation.

“Yes, … (he’s) still youthful. But there has to be a serious weighting towards general deterrence and denunciation (of his crimes),” Judge Cohen said.

The date of Vince’s sentencing in Melbourne is yet to be determined.