Courier Mail 23 March 2023
‘Black flight’: Feds intercept plane carrying $15m meth under the radar
A “black flight” carrying a massive haul of meth from Papua New Guinea was pounced on by the Australian Federal Police when it stopped to refuel at a tiny Queensland airstrip.
Five men – including a pilot and co-pilot – allegedly moved $15 million worth of methamphetamine from PNG into Queensland on a stealth mission flying at low altitude with the plane’s transponder turned off.
Specialist officers from the AFP and Queensland Police Service pounced on the group when the twin-engine Beechcraft plane touched down in Monto, two hours west of Bundaberg, on Tuesday afternoon.
The men, who police allege were involved in an organised crime syndicate, are all from New South Wales and have been charged with importing a commercial quantity of methamphetamine.
“These charges are extremely serious, but equally, allegedly flying an unregistered, low-level flight across thousands of kilometres is dangerous,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Dametto said.
“These men have not only allegedly imported a dangerous drug, but flying at a low altitude without proper monitoring systems poses a huge safety risk to other aircraft and to emergency services members in the event of an incident.”
Police will allege the stealth flight began its journey from Wilton, a rural town an hour south west of Sydney, on March 20.
Bernard Hamilton Alexander, a 51-year-old pilot from Fairy Meadow, and his co-pilot, 52-year-old Tahmoor man John Horvath, flew the plane to Monto, where a truck carrying hundreds of litres of aviation fuel was waiting at the remote air strip.
The tank of fuel had allegedly been brought in with the help of 54-year-old Newcastle man Peter David Payne.
After refuelling, the pilot and co-pilot allegedly took off under the cover of darkness, landing in Bulolo, 250km northwest of Port Moresby.
In PNG, the men were watched by the local constabulary as they allegedly loaded the nose of the light plane with 52kg of meth stuffed into five large duffel bags.
The men were arrested after landing back in Monto and had allegedly planned to fly the plane back into NSW.
Police are still investigating, with the help of authorities in South East Asia, how the meth was sourced and brought into PNG.
The AFP will allege the three accomplices, 40-year-old Wilton man Mark Brian Pracy, 40-year-old Nathan Bailey, of no fixed address, and Payne acted as a “ground crew”, basing themselves in Queensland since February.
Police will allege Pracy was the “main facilitator” of the drug importation and was working on behalf of “other people funding” the mission.
Police will allege it was Pracy who communicated with the people storing the drugs in PNG.
It will be alleged the group used encrypted phones and messaging systems to talk with other members of the supply chain, based overseas.
Police in NSW raided houses and businesses in Wilton and Tahmoor, Fairy Meadow in Wollongong and Wallsend in Newcastle.
They allegedly found and seized electronic devices, gun parts, drug paraphernalia and paperwork referencing aircraft parts and travel to PNG.