- Nathan Baggaley accused of trying to organize huge drug importation
- He won Olympic silver medals and was a four-time world champion.
Disgraced former Olympic kayaker Nathan Baggaley has pleaded guilty to his role in a failed plot to import $200 million worth of cocaine into Australia.
Nathan Baggaley and his brother Dru were due to stand trial later this month accused of attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
The pair were accused of trying to smuggle up to $200 million worth of cocaine into Australia from a foreign cargo ship in 2018.
When the boat carrying Dru Baggaley and another man, Anthony Draper, was intercepted by an Australian Navy ship, the pair threw the packages allegedly containing cocaine overboard.
It is estimated that the bales recovered by authorities contained 650 kilos of white powder and cocaine.
Nathan Baggaley (pictured) has pleaded guilty to his role in a failed plot to import $200 million worth of cocaine into Australia.
Baggaley (pictured) won two silver medals at the Olympic Games and three gold medals at the world kayaking championships in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
During his arraignment in Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday, Nathan pleaded guilty to the charge.
His brother Dru pleaded guilty to the same charge on Wednesday.
A trial for the couple, scheduled to begin Oct. 28, was removed from the docket following the plea.
Both brothers were charged with attempting to import more than 500kg of cocaine into Australia in 2018.
The Crown contended that Nathan purchased an inflatable boat which he outfitted with $10,000 worth of equipment, including a satellite phone and GPS system.
He is also alleged to have communicated with his brother via an encrypted phone, using the alias ‘Thunderbutt’.
Dru and another man, Anthony Draper, are alleged to have used the boat to recover packages of cocaine from a foreign cargo ship about 360 kilometers off the Queensland coast.
The drugs had an estimated street value of $200 million.
The Crown contended that packages of cocaine were dumped into the sea after Dru and Draper attempted to evade maritime authorities.
Draper was sentenced to 13 years in prison for his role in the plot.
Nathan and Dru Baggaley initially pleaded not guilty to their respective charges during a trial in 2021.
Pictured: Some of the drugs allegedly recovered by the Australian Navy when they intercepted a boat driven by Baggaley’s brother Dru and another man in 2018.
Nathan Baggaley leaves a Sydney court in 2015
A jury found them guilty: Nathan was sentenced to 25 years in prison and Dru to 28 years in prison.
But the brothers successfully appealed their convictions earlier this year, and the Queensland Court of Appeal ordered a new trial for both.
In its published reasons, the Court of Appeal stated that Dru Baggaley’s trial lawyer did not ask questions at trial to obtain evidence about the phone.
It included allegations of how Draper had sent the phone to Dru and asked him to buy a SIM card and a credit card.
“No question was asked as to whether the appellant had done so or whether he had inserted the SIM card and credit card into his parents’ home phone,” the ruling states.
“This omission was significant because ownership of the phone was crucial to the Crown’s case against the appellant.”
‘Not giving the appellant the opportunity to testify that he had taken possession of the telephone; buying a SIM card and a recharge card and then giving it to Draper was failing to allow the appellant to present a very important part of his case to the jury.
The court was told Dru believed the packets actually contained tobacco.
