An Iranian national has been sentenced to more than a decade in jail after trying to import ice, hidden in honey jars and car wax tubes, into Sydney.
An Iranian asylum seeker, who tried to import meth into Australia hidden in honey jars and car wax tubes has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison.
Mehdi Solhi, 30, faced the NSW District Court for sentencing in Wollongong on Friday, after he admitted trying to import almost 9kg of ice into Sydney from Iran and Iraq.
Judge Chris O’Brien rejected Solhi’s claims he agreed to receive packages from someone in Iran because he was “lonely and wanted a connection to his homeland” after arriving in Australian in 2013.
“I reject that as nonsensical and implausible,” he said.
Judge O’Brien sentenced Solhi to a maximum prison term of 10 years and six months with a non-parole period of seven years and six months, finding he was the “end point” for the drug consignments, and that he intended to sell them for financial gain.
On Friday, the court heard Solhi, who previously served in the Iranian Army, arrived in Australia in 2013 after fleeing his country and family due to troubles with the intelligence arm of the government.
Read the article by Madeline Crittenden (Illawarra Star) in The Daily Telegraph.