A NSW District Court jury has found a 70-year-old man guilty of importing a significant quantity of a controlled drug, specifically heroin, concealed within a foldable camp bed. The case involved Barry James Calverley, who was stopped by border officials at Sydney International Airport on January 24, 2024, after arriving from Laos via Vietnam. Inside his green bag, authorities discovered 48 packages of heroin weighing approximately 2.5 kilograms, hidden in the metal frame of the camp bed equipped with a mosquito net.
During the trial, jurors heard that Calverley was allegedly offered $10 million to transport the item from Laos to Australia. After deliberating for over eight hours, the jury rejected the man’s claims that he was unaware of the drugs and that the money was merely compensation for a previous financial fraud that cost him $260,000 in 2022.
Testimony revealed that a message had been sent to Calverley in late 2023, informing him about a payment exceeding $14 million which was later reduced to $10 million. This payment was contingent upon him delivering a “gift” to a figure known only as the “paymaster general” in Sydney.
Calverley’s assertions regarding his ignorance of the drug’s presence did not convince the jury, culminating in their guilty verdict. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 22, 2024, as he now faces the legal consequences of his actions.