The court heard Draper testified as part of an undertaking made when he received a reduced sentence during earlier court proceedings. They were arrested by police before reaching the mainland. While Draper yelled “no more pot” because there might be “too much” for the small boat, the foreign men referred to “cacao”.įootage shows the pair throwing packages into the sea when approached by a navy patrol boat. He and Baggaley loaded a “substantial” number of black packages, thrown from the larger vessel, onto the RHIB, he said. They met up with a “big red boat” with “South American people”, some holding guns, on board, Draper testified. “(Draper’s) basically said … I’m going to be held responsible for all this s*** and people are going to come after my family and me if I don’t come on board,” he added.ĭraper, 56, earlier told the court he flew from Sydney to Coolangatta at Dru Baggaley’s request.ĭraper said he thought the pair were going a couple of kilometres offshore to pick up “smoko” which he thought was marijuana. “Most of us have a sense of when we are being followed and clearly this juror felt that,” Justice Lyons said.ĭru Baggaley, 39, has told the court another man, Anthony Draper, asked him to buy a boat and get it ready to meet a ship from Indonesia that would bring tobacco to be sold in Australia.ĭru Baggaley said Draper provided $100,000 cash for the rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), which Baggaley could keep to start a whale-watching business.īut when the pair were at the boat ramp at Brunswick Heads about 9.30pm on July 30, 2018, Draper was “panicking” and said: “Mate, you’re f***ing coming with me whether you like it or not.”īaggaley said he told Draper that was “never the agreement”, he had work in the morning and gets seasick, but the other man insisted.ĭraper warned he would tell “dangerous people” involved in the importation of the tobacco worth more than $1 million where his family lived, he said. Strategies were also put in place to ensure the safety of jurors for the rest of the trial after one juror also believed they were followed last Wednesday evening while walking to the train station, despite changing course. “If they do come to the court house again they will not be allowed to enter the court building.” The Baggaley brothers will be sentenced at a date not yet decided.“We don’t know why the persons who were thought to be staring were here,” she added. In 2013, he was charged with various counts of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of banned drugs into Australia as well as manufacturing and producing prohibited drugs for which he was jailed. In 2010 he had another jail sentence added after being found with steroids in prison. Two years later he admitted to manufacturing more than 1,500 MDMA tablets and supplying a prohibited drug for which he was jailed for nine years. In 2007 he was found with 762 ecstasy tablets, cannabis and cash in his car then was jailed after facing more drug charges of manufacturing and dealing ecstasy that year. He tested positive for banned steroids in 2005 after he claimed he drank his brother's orange juice without realising it was laced with the steroid. Nathan is also a three-time world canoe champion but his career has been tarnished by drug scandals. His fingerprints were found on tape used to conceal the boat's registration number. Nathan told the court he bought the boat with money given to him by Dru and fitted it with a satellite phone and navigation system because he was told it would be used to start a whale-watching business. However, Draper said he was recruited by Dru to drive the boat and claims he was told they were picking up "smoko" which he thought was marijuana.ĭraper pleaded guilty to importing cocaine earlier this year and had his sentence reduced for testifying against the brothers. Dru said he thought he was collecting tobacco and claims Draper kidnapped him and made him go on the trip otherwise he would hurt his family.
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