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A New Zealander is accused of importing heroin into Australia.
He was caught with more than 2.6kg of the drug.
The Northland pensioner says he has been set up.
Crown prosecutors say he knew what he was doing.
The jury is to see evidence of a US$30.5 million ($53.4m) deal.
A Northland pensioner is on trial in Melbourne after allegedly importing a commercial quantity of heroin into Australia.
Raemon Parkinson, 70, claims he was “set up” but the Crown maintains he knew exactly what was in his suitcase and was looking forward to being paid millions of US dollars for his efforts.
The Moerewa resident was arrested at Melbourne International Airport in November 2023 after a baggage search revealed concealed packages in his suitcase containing more than 2.5kg of the illicit drug.
Australian authorities say that could have accounted for about 25,000 individual hits of heroin had it reached the community.
The Crown says Raemon Parkinson collected the suitcase in Laos and knew it contained a commercial quantity of heroin. Photo / Supplied
Parkinson does not dispute the suitcase was his, or that heroin was inside – but he denies charges of importing and possessing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
Parkinson’s trial began today in the Melbourne County Court before Judge Krista Breckweg and a jury.
The Herald was granted permission to attend the trial by audio-visual link.
Crown prosecutor Diana Karamicov outlined Parkinson’s journey from Morewa to his arrest.
On October 18, 2023 he flew to Auckland and then on to Manila in the Philippines on the 26th.
He remained in Manila for four days then flew to Vientiane in Laos.
On the morning of November 7 he collected the brown suitcase. That night he flew back to Manila, and then to Melbourne two days later.
Karamicov said when Parkinson left New Zealand he checked in a black suitcase and carried on a silver briefcase.
But when he left Laos he had an additional brown suitcase, which the drugs were later found in.
“The accused was in regular contact with a [Whatsapp messenger] account held in the name of Edward Perry,” said Karamicov.
“And we don’t know who Edward Perry is, or if that’s his real name, but that doesn’t matter. What we do know is that Edward Perry was using a phone number with an area code that corresponded to that for the UK.
“The messages will show you that Edward Perry directed [Parkinson] about what he called the transaction. Edward Perry arranged the main flights and the accommodation for [Parkinson], which were all paid for.
“He gave instructions to [Parkinson] about where and when he was to attend and what money exchange services to collect spending money.
“He gave him instructions about when he would receive the brown suitcase and what he should do with it once he had received delivery of it - and he also provided instructions about how (Parkinson) was to deliver the brown suitcase once he’d arrived in Melbourne.”
A 'gift' Parkinson bought tested positive for heroin. Photo / Supplied
Karamicov told the jury that “Perry” and Parkinson’s messages included “discussion about payment”.
“It’s the Crown case that those messages described that upon delivery of the brown suitcase to a person referred to as ‘the payment officer’ in Melbourne – the agreement was that [Parkinson] was to receive $30.5 million in US dollars,” she said.
The money was to be put into Parkinson’s New Zealand bank account and from there he was to transfer $6m to Perry as a “fee”.
The jury would be shown those messages during the trial.
‘The drugs case’ - accused messages wife
They would also see communications between the accused and his wife Luana Parkinson.
“In the Crown case, two messages are pertinent. They were sent by the accused to his wife on the 7th of November 2023 – after he received delivery of the brown suitcase,” Karamicov said.
“The first contained a photo of the brown suitcase … the message reads ‘the drugs case’. And the second appears to show the brown suitcase on what looks to be like an airport trolley with the message … that’s a shorthand for ‘another’.
When Parkinson landed in Melbourne he was searched by an Australian Border Force (ABF) official, who will give evidence this week.
“The accused told her that the bags he brought into Australia all belonged to him, that he packed them himself and that he was fully aware of the contents of those bags.
“She found in the accused’s silver briefcase, some documents that related to the transfer of money. When she asked him about those documents, [he] told her that he had made $30m from cryptocurrency, that he had not yet received the money, and that he was not asked to do anything in return for receiving that money.”
The brown suitcase was opened for inspection and at first look it only contained a handbag and general clothing items.
But X-ray scans of both the suitcase and bag showed structural anomalies.
The suitcase Parkinson says he purchased in Lao to carry presents home. Photo / Supplied
“A number of tests were then conducted on the brown suitcase and the handbag, and they all showed up presumptive positive tests for heroin,” said Karamicov.
“The search was moved into a room and the two items were more closely examined, and the accused were questioned.”
Parkinson told ABF staff that he purchased everything in the suitcase “from a market in Laos” and they were “gifts”.
He purchased the suitcase to transport the items home.
Further tests were carried out and the lining of the luggage was unstitched.
“That is where the officers found the heroin – this was concealed and contained in sealed packages,” Karamicov explained.
During the trial the jury will be shown footage of Parkinson being interviewed by ABF staff and police.
He told a police officer he “had been set up”, that “something terrible happened”.
“I am pissed off about it,” Parkinson said.
Karamicov said the Crown did not accept the accounts Parkinson gave authorities were truthful.
“The Crown says that the accused intentionally took this trip and imported the heroin into Australia – for which he believed he would receive payment in the order of US$30.5m.
“It’s the Crown case … that the accused either knew that the heroin was in the brown suitcase – or that he perceived that there was a real or significant chance that the drugs were in the suitcase when he brought it into Australia.
“And further, the Crown says Parkinson … was aware of a substantial risk that he was carrying drugs and that it was unjustifiable for him to take that risk.”
Karamicov was confident the jury would easily find Parkinson guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Parkinson’s lawyer said the defence position was simple.
“Mr Parkinson did not intend to import drugs,” he said.
“He had no knowledge that there were drugs in the suitcase and in the handbag and he was not reckless about those drugs in those bags.”
The lawyer said one of the first things Parkinson said to ABF staff was that he had no knowledge of anything illegal in his suitcase.
The trial continues tomorrow and the Crown will call its first witnesses.
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz
