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A cocaine-addicted man who admitted attempting to possess 45kg of the drug imported from Greece in a jukebox has been jailed for more than a decade.
When unpacking more than 45kg of cocaine from a jukebox imported from Greece, Vaios Gkourmis wondered if it might have been replaced by police.
Another man unknowingly joked that officers were “probably watching”.
It had been, and they were.
Gkourmis was jailed for 12-and-a-half years on Wednesday for attempting to possess a commercial quantity of the substance in June last year.
He had acted as a middle man, passing instructions and replies between an alleged organiser of the import and a third man who had flown to Melbourne from Greece to pick up the delivery.
Unknown to the trio, Australian Border Force officials had already intercepted the delivery and discovered 45 packages containing the cocaine, which had a pure weight of 36kg.
It had been replaced with a neutral substance and a tracking substance by police, who were watching the controlled delivery and recording conversations with listening devices.
When Gkourmis and another man broke into the jukebox to access the drugs, they became suspicious about its appearance.
“I’m worried they f***ing replaced it,” the other man said.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking,” Gkourmis replied.
“And the malakas are watching the whole thing,” the other man said, using a Greek slur.
Officers swooped on Gkourmis’ home on June 22 last year and found keys to the address where the delivery was stored, a receipt for tools used to break into the jukebox and a green jacket with the tracker substance on it.
Victorian County Court Judge Fiona Todd said Gkourmis’ involvement was fleeting and his reason for participation was profit, through money or drugs.
He was addicted to cocaine and used the drug daily, she said.
Gkourmis, 27, arrived in Australia in his late teens with his police officer father and teacher mother.
The family struggled to adapt to their new life and all except Gkourmis returned to Greece.
He was engaged and ran his own auto-electrical business.
Judge Todd said Gkourmis still has the support of his family and partner, who provided affectionate and heartfelt character references.
Gkourmis will be eligible for parole after serving at least eight years.
