A relative of convicted Bali drug dealer Schapelle Corby helped move more than 750kg of MDMA using a sophisticated hidden compartment in a truck to store the drugs, a court has been told.
Viliami Taani Paea Kisina and Benjamin David Englefield acted as couriers for the trans-international drug syndicate before being arrested by detectives in 2019.
The sophisticated operation involved the use of fake companies, with fake business cards, to avoid detection by authorities.
Englefield pleaded guilty to a single charge of supplying dangerous drugs.
Kisina, who is related to Schapelle Corby through her half-brother James Kisina, pleaded guilty to the same charge and an additional charge of contravening an order or requirement of a police officer.
The couple will learn their fate at another date after Supreme Court Justice Ryan reserved his decision on Monday afternoon.
There is no suggestion that Ms Corby was involved in the crime and she is not charged with any offence.
The Brisbane Supreme Court was told police located the drug shipment at an apartment in Brisbane in July 2019.
The Brisbane Supreme Court was told police seized more than 750kg of MDMA (pictured) and Kisina and Englefield moved boxes containing the drugs in August 2019.
Englefield (pictured) pleaded guilty to a single charge of supplying dangerous drugs
They found 32 storage boxes containing 752 kg of MDMA with a purity of 71-72 percent, packed in hundreds of vacuum-sealed bags.
Crown prosecutor Brendan White said police replaced the drugs with brown sugar and special tracking devices as part of a police operation.
Kisina, 31, collected the drugs from the flat on August 4 that year and drove to meet Englefield, 47, in Coorparoo.
The court was told the pair then transferred the boxes to a larger truck, which had been driven through Englefield from New South Wales.
In police videos played in court, detectives are seen using a remote control device to move a fake wall containing boxes of MDMA.
The fob device was seized by police when a search warrant was executed at Englefield’s Lennox Head unit.
White said the vehicles driven by Englefield and Kisina were registered under false names and falsely created companies (with their own business cards) in an “intense effort” to avoid detection.
He said the total value of the drugs alone was $45 million.
“But once retailed, it had a potential of between $114 million and $536 million,” Mr. White said.
“This represents something in the order of 70 per cent of the MDMA that enters Australia each year.”
A large crowd of family members supported Kisina at the Supreme Court on Monday (pictured)
Kisina is a relative of convicted Bali drug trafficker Schappelle Corby, who is not charged with any crime.
Kisina was also captured on film unloading boxes from the truck.
White said the couple knew the boxes contained dangerous drugs or “some other illegal product” and that they both “really didn’t care.”
Lawyer Murugan Thangaraj, representing Englefield, said none of the accused had anything to do with modifying the vehicles or creating fake companies.
A package of documents was presented in support, including multiple references and a letter of apology.
Mr Thangaraj was told that Englefield’s role had been “combined” as there were other people involved in the union who were higher up.
“There are high-level people and there are messengers,” he said.
The court was told the pair used a modified truck to move the drugs, which had a key fob-operated hidden wall to hide the boxes.
The police replaced the MDMA, which was in powder form, with jaggery before the sting.
Kisina’s lawyer, Patrick McCafferty, said his client had steady employment and worked for family businesses for two years before the crime.
Kisina was joined by a large gathering of family members who supported him in court.
The court was told he was only paid $500 to move the boxes.
McCafferty said his client was effectively a “messenger” in the crime.