

A press release from the Australian Federal Police ( AFP). The Crown will also seek to prove Nathan Baggaley communicated or tried to communicate with his brother at sea and drove a boat trailer to Brunswick Heads, expecting to meet the cocaine-laden RHIB. Dru Baggaley and another man were arrested in the summer of 2018 after law enforcement intercepted their boat, according to Nine News.
Dru baggaley registration#
The prosecution alleges Nathan Baggaley also had a “key role” in the importation, saying he bought the RHIB for $100,000, got it ready, and covered its registration number in heavy-duty black tape before the trip out to sea. Baggaley, appeared before Lismore District Court on Thursday, facing a total of three charges, with the most serious being the supply of a commercial quantity of ecstasy, or 1,000 pills. An Augfile photo of Australian Nathan Baggaley on his way to finishing second in the K1 500 mens event at tthe 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Simultaneously, Dru Baggaley throws the “incredibly valuable cargo into the ocean” in the hopes the navy vessel would stop its pursuit, the court was told. Get the latest news from in your inbox.About two hours into the 11-hour journey back to shore, a navy vessel ordered the boat to stop.įootage shown to the court during Mr. In August 2018, Baggaleys brother, Dru Anthony Baggaley, was arrested in connection with the attempted importation of 600 kilograms (1,300 lb) of cocaine. Nathan and Dru Baggaley both pleaded not guilty to a single count of attempting to import a commercial quantity of cocaine into Coolangatta on the Gold Coast between December 2017 and August 2018.

Dru baggaley trial#
Strategies were also put in place to ensure the safety of jurors for the rest of the trial after one juror also believed they were followed last Wednesday evening while walking to the train station, despite changing course. "We don't know why the persons who were thought to be staring were here," she added. The prosecution alleged Dru Baggaley, 39, was responsible for recruiting another man, Anthony Draper, to help him collect 650 kilograms of cocaine from a foreign ship more than 360 kilometres off the coast of northern New South Wales. Three people had been identified and would not be allowed back in the building during the trial, Justice Ann Lyons said on Monday.

Both Nathan and Dru had pleaded not guilty. Proceedings were adjourned early on Friday afternoon after jurors raised concerns about three "young men" staring at them for extended periods earlier in the trial. Last month, a Supreme Court jury found the brothers guilty of attempting to import 650kg of cocaine, obtained from a ship off Australia’s coast, into the country in 2018. Three people have been banned from the courtroom where the trial is continuing after jurors raised concerns about being stared at and followed. The court heard Draper testified as part of an undertaking made when he received a reduced sentence during earlier court proceedings. "I had no suspicions it was going to be used for anything like this," Nathan Baggaley said.ĭru Baggaley earlier told the court he was just "following orders" made by Anthony Draper when he threw bundles of cocaine out of the RHIB as it was pursued by a navy vessel on July 31, 2018.ĭru Baggaley says he was vomiting from being seasick while the two men travelled hundreds of kilometres into the ocean.ĭraper had told Dru Baggaley to join him on the boat "whether you like it or not", warning he would tell "dangerous people" where his family lived, the younger brother has told the court.Īsked if he was saying he had been kidnapped, Dru Baggaley said: "I didn't want to be on that boat, that's for sure."ĭraper, 56, earlier told the court he flew from Sydney to Coolangatta at Dru Baggaley's request, thinking they were going a few kilometres offshore to pick up "smoko" which he thought was marijuana. He bought a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) and equipped it with navigation equipment, a wireless router and a satellite phone. The Olympic kayaker worked as a fibre-glasser mainly making surf skis, but was up for a career change, he told the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday. When brothers Nathan and Dru Baggaley heard the guilty verdict today, it was a case. Nathan Baggaley, 45, said his brother "seemed genuine" when he spoke about the whale-watching venture in May 2018. News Queensland Nathan and Dru Baggaley guilty of attempting to import 200m worth of cocaine into Australia.
