EXCLUSIVE
Barry Calverley seemed to have it all: a beautiful wife, a country estate, three successful daughters and a career spanning decades in the mining industry.
He had worked in India, Singapore and West Africa on oil and gas projects for resource giants such as Shell, Exxon Mobil, BHP and Santos.
He also worked from Bass Strait to the Pilbara in his home state of Western Australia, earning up to $2,000 a day.
Calverley was well-respected and “impressive”, according to a friend who also works in the security consulting business for high-risk mining sites.
His friend was “stunned” to learn this week that Calverley, 68, is now in a cell accused of drug trafficking after being arrested three months ago for allegedly smuggling 5kg of heroin from South East Asia through Customs in a camping bag.
Barry Calverley (above) with his daughter Harriet was a highly respected mining industry consultant with a country estate who is now locked up in a cell on drug importation charges that carry a life sentence.
Respected mining industry consultant Barry Calverley (above) had a successful career, property and a loving family, but the Western Australian grandfather is now in a cell accused of trafficking heroin from Laos through Vietnam.
Barry Calverley and his wife owned this horse riding property in a picturesque valley of ancient woodland, orchards and vineyards near the Margaret River wine region.
On Wednesday, Mr Calverley’s eldest daughter Harriet was at his court hearing after making a mercy run from Perth to Sydney to see her father.
In an unsuccessful bail application, the court was told Harriet would be willing to live with her father, who is being held at the maximum security Macquarie Correctional Center in Wuuluman, 350 kilometers northwest of Sydney in New South Wales. , in case the magistrate released him from custody while he waits further. hearings.
“He is at great risk in the prison system,” his lawyer told the court, and if he is not granted bail “at his age he is at risk of dying very prematurely.”
THE ARREST
Calverley was arrested at Sydney International Airport after he is believed to have flown back from Laos via Hanoi, Vietnam, on the afternoon of January 24.
Australian Border Force officers examined a green bag containing a camping chair as part of Mr Calverley’s luggage and allegedly found 5kg of heroin.
The Australian Federal Police said “the large quantity of heroin… would have been enough for 25,000 street businesses with an estimated street value of $2.25 million.”
The court heard that through WhatsApp communications with a man called ‘Privham’, Mr Calverley had been promised $7.2 million (A$11 million) ‘to collect documents’ and had traveled to Laos and He had met at a hotel to do so. .
At the hotel they asked him to take “a little gift” in a travel bag and the documents to return to Australia. Calverley admitted that he was suspicious and that he would not have agreed to take anything illegal.
Barry and Jocelyn Calverley have three daughters, including Harriet (centre), who were privately educated and grew up on a riding estate in the Bunbury, WA hinterland.
Border Force officers allege Barry Calverley imported this camping chair bag containing 5kg of heroin into Customs at Sydney International Airport on the afternoon of January 24 this year.
Barry Calverley, above with an ambulance taken to a WA mining site, has worked on oil and gas projects for resource giants such as Shell, Exxon Mobil, BHP and Santos.
WA’s grandfather is believed to have flown from Perth to South East Asia around the third week of January.
On Wednesday, magistrate Mark Whelan was told that Calverley had “a very arguable case in relation to his innocence” and that there was “revealing material supporting the belief that he had a reason for going to Laos thinking that he was going to receive this very large sum.” big”. of money’.
LIFE BEFORE THE PRISON CELL
After decades working on mining sites ensuring safety standards for 14 different companies in almost 20 years, Calverley founded his own company Redcoastal in 2022.
He posted photos of ambulances, fire trucks and emergency response vehicles that he delivered to mining sites, joking that they were his “big kid toys.”
The same year he put his wine collection up for sale on Facebook, including vintage Grange Hermitage and Wolf Blass reds and bottles of port dating back to the 1960s, asking his friends: “Wine people, any thoughts on the price of these?”
Calverley had started selling items on his Facebook page three years earlier, including the family home and a 2004 Holden Rodeo ute for $12,500.
Owned by Mr Calverley and his wife Jocelyn since 2006, the 20-hectare estate at Glen Mervyn, 200 kilometers south of Perth, was in a picturesque valley of ancient woodland, orchards and vineyards “near Bunbury, the beaches of Geographe Bay and the Margaret River Wine Region”.
The Calverleys sold their 290 hectare property south of Perth for just under $1 million in 2021 after living there for 15 years.
Barry Calverley put his collection of vintage wines and ports up for sale on Facebook in 2022
The Calverleys’ five-bedroom home had a saltwater swimming pool, dressage and show jumping fields and a cross-country show jumping arena.
It seems the couple’s daughters grew up riding horses in an idyllic setting with their own stables and storage room, 15 paddocks for sheep and horses and hay growing.
Listed for nearly $1 million in 2019, the property sold in 2021 for $965,000 to corporate trust company Perpetual Trustee.
Meanwhile, the Calverleys had become grandparents and one of their privately educated daughters had graduated from college and become an events manager.
After being charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, Mr Calverley was refused bail and remained in custody until his bail application on Wednesday, when he was again denied bail. bail.
Barry Calverley appeared in court this week via AVL from Macquarie Prison (above) in Wuuluman, 350km northwest of Sydney in regional New South Wales.
After being charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, Mr Calverley was refused bail and remained in custody until his bail application on Wednesday, when he was again denied bail. bail.
Magistrate Whelan noted that the alleged offense carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, although he acknowledged Calverley’s case would be delayed before the courts.
He also noted Mr Calverley’s stated heart problems and skin complaints of dermatitis and psoriasis, but was not satisfied that his solicitor had shown grounds for his release on bail.
Refusing bail, Mr Whelan remanded Mr Calverley into custody until his next appearance on 29 January 2025.