For a Brisbane drug courier who delivered a kilogram of methamphetamine a week, getting fired was the best thing ever, a sentencing judge says.

September 4, 2019

Getting fired was the best thing that could have happened to a Brisbane drug courier involved in a “staggeringly” large methamphetamine supply operation, a judge says.

NSW man Thanh Binh Nguyen, 30, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of unlawful trafficking in dangerous drugs between June 2013 and July 2014.

He was one of three men whose criminal matters were mentioned in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday in relation to the trafficking ring.

The court heard Nguyen was a drug syndicate delivery driver, cash collector and storeman handling up to one kilogram of methamphetamine per week until he was sacked.

Justice Elizabeth Wilson says the amounts of money and drugs involved were “quite staggering”.

“A kilogram a week of methamphetamine. You’ve been a drug addict and drug user. You know the damage it causes. You know the addictive quality,” she said.

“Peddling and pushing a kilogram of methamphetamine out into the market. That just spreads the destruction far and wide.”

The court heard Nguyen started off small, delivering just a few ounces a week but his involvement quickly escalated before he was let go after a year on the job.

“That is the best thing that has ever happened to you, being fired,” Justice Wilson said.

“I am sentencing you to a period of imprisonment here today. That term could have been significantly higher.”

The court heard after being sacked, Nguyen returned to NSW where he has led a drug and crime-free life for the past five years after reuniting with his wife and son.

“So what I’ve got is a person with no criminal history who then has a year of very serious criminal activity and then he got fired,” Justice Wilson said

She sentenced Nguyen to eight years in prison eligible for parole after two years and eight months.

Eamon Charles Lowe was not in court and is expected to contest his sentence for perverting the course of justice when his case returns to the same court on September 20.

Ngoc Tang Phan pleaded not guilty to trafficking in methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine between February 2012 and September 2016.

He also pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice but guilty to a weapons possession charge.

He was remanded in custody to also return to court on September 20.