Cocaine trafficking in Australia : a Quebecer pleads guilty

Photo courtesy
Andre Jorge Tamine

Catherine Montambeault

Tuesday, February 20, 2018 16:45

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Tuesday, February 20, 2018 16:45

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The Montreal-that would have been imported 95 kg of cocaine in Australia with the help of two young people in Quebec, pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of importation of drugs in commercial quantities.

Andre Jorge Tamine, 64 years old, was arrested in August 2016 on board the ship Sea Princess in the port of Sydney. He had just completed a luxury cruise of two months around the world alongside Isabelle Lagacé, 30 years old, and Mélina Roberge, 24 years old.

The photos from the trip published by the young women on the social networks had immediately made headlines.

Photo from instagram

Mélina Roberge (left) and Isabelle Lagacé

Dog trackers had discovered about 35 kg of drugs in a suitcase hidden in the cabin shared with two other friends, while about 60 kg were found in the baggage of the sixties.

It is believed to be the largest seizure of drugs introduced in Australia by a passenger of a ship or an aircraft. In the street, such a quantity of cocaine could be worth up to $ 30 million CDN, had stated to the australian authorities.

Life imprisonment

Last week, our Office of investigation revealed that the trio was actually part of a large-scale radio-controlled Montreal, involving at least 12 people in Quebec, Morocco, Mexico and Peru.

The three Quebecers would not have been that simple mules in this conspiracy alleged, carefully planned by a gang egyptian-syrian and the underworld of jewish metropolis, in collaboration with the infamous cartel mexican Sinaloa.

Andre Jorge Tamine will be back in court on 26 October for the recommendations on his sentence. He could be hurt by a sentence of life imprisonment.

Last November, Isabelle Lagacé has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the same charge that Tamine.

Meanwhile, Melina Roberge, who has pleaded not guilty, will stand trial from February 26 in Sydney.