Grandpa deemed guilty, not gullible over heroin import plot

Claims that a grandfather was unaware a foldable camp bed contained illicit drugs despite being offered millions to bring it into Australia have been rejected by a jury.

Border Officials stopped Barry James Calverley at Sydney International Airport on a flight from Laos via Vietnam on January 24, 2024.

He was carrying a green bag containing a camp bed with a mosquito net, which had 48 packages of heroin hidden within the metal frame.

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About 2.5kg of pure heroin was found in a camp bed a 70-year-old man brought into Australia.

The 70-year-old was found guilty of one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug by a NSW District Court jury today.

Jurors returned the verdict after deliberating for just over eight hours.

They were told at trial that Calverley was offered $10 million to bring the camp bed from Laos to Australia.

Commonwealth prosecutor Sheridan Goodwin told the jury the total weight of pure heroin within the bed was around 2.5kg.

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In late 2023, Calverley received an email stating that a payment of more than $14 million was waiting for him.

This was reduced to $10 million after he was directed to pick up some documents in the Laotian capital of Vientiane and return with a "gift" to someone called the "paymaster general" in Sydney.

He claimed he thought the money offered was compensation after he had been conned out of $260,000 in 2022.

He will face a sentencing hearing on April 22.

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