Former champion Sydney racehorse owner Damion Flower has been jailed after he was busted playing a “managerial role” in drug smuggling syndicate that saw 228kg of cocaine imported into Australia.
The 49-year-old and his mate To’Oto’O Mafiti, also known as John, 52, were sentenced in the NSW District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.
Both men, who met when they worked as airport baggage handlers at Sydney Airport in the early 2000s, showed no emotion as Judge Sarah Huggett outlined the background of their cases to the court.
Between 2016 and 2019 police busted the pair importing a staggering 228 kilograms of cocaine into Australia from South Africa on 12 occasions.
Judge Huggett said each delivery of the drug came through Qantas flights and was collected by Mafiti, who remained working as a baggage handler and acted after being instructed by Flower.
To keep their drug smuggling operation running and a secret, the court heard Maxjmtzywfiti and Flower would use coded language about sports betting or plans for family gatherings in phone conversations.
The court heard on one occasion Flower sent a text message to Mafiti about a bet on a rugby match in the hours before a drug delivery arrived.
“Hey bro rugby union Auckland blues will win … yeah in (sic) bettin them to win but also picking the score bet 37 to 9,” he wrote.
The three numbers Flower mentioned in the message corresponded with the last three numbers on a baggage container labelled 93379, which was due to come in on a flight and contained a cocaine delivery Mafiti collected.
Police arrested the pair on May 22, 2019 and uncovered $1.7m cash in a suitcase at Mafiti’s home in Oran Park and $119,000 at Flowers’ home in Moorebank.
A further $4.4 million was uncovered in duffel bags at storage facilities Mafiti rented.
When police arrested Flower, Judge Huggett told the court a set of car keys, a Visa card and paperwork in the name of Sydney gambling identity and brothel owner Eddie Hayson was found in a bag at Flower’s home.
No charges have been laid against Mr Hayson and he is not accused of any wrongdoing.
Judge Huggett said a set of house keys labelled with an address Mr Hayson resided at in Manly were also found in Flower’s home, along with an Optus phone.
In a psychological report referenced in court, Judge Huggett said Flower claimed “his offending was unplanned and the result of bad decisions”.
She said since 2000 he would drink himself to sleep every night with beer and bourbon, as well cocaine which he had since stopped using.
“Flower reports he began gambling when he was 13, stating he became quite successful and making profits by early adulthood,” Judge Huggett told the court.
“He began gambling professionally in 2000, taking ownership of his first horse in 2003 and winning $2m … he then went on to establish a training facility for thoroughbred horses, reporting the business performed well in 2017 and 2018 before things changed.
“He described being left in the lurch by clients not paying money they owed and that he became indebted to sales companies and bookmakers.”
In a letter to the court, Judge Huggett said: “Flower said he got caught up in the life that comes with the racing industry and was drinking, gambling and accumulating debt.”
“Not wanting to lose his business, he states, he started making irrational decisions because he was desperate and had employees with families and outgoings of their own.
“He asserted that the money he made from the offending was reinvested back into the business or gambled, with any winnings channelled into keeping the business afloat.”
Despite a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder, gambling use disorder and substance use disorder, Judge Huggett said they were not factors that could reduce the level of Flowers’ wrongdoing.
“At the time of the offending Flower was a man with business acumen and intelligence,” she said.
“He understood exactly what he was involving himself in … and understood the serious illegality involved and that was because of the substantial reward the offending reaped.
“In my view, there is little to nothing in his subjective circumstances that serves to reduce his moral culpability or the criminality of his conduct.”
Judge Huggett said a psychological report about Mafiti had revealed he felt that “because of his friendship with Flower he wanted to help him out when he could by collecting items from the baggage collection”.
“Mafiti described that he had been ‘groomed’ to participate in the offending, in that he put his friendship with Flower first,” she said.
“That said, he acknowledged that his involvement was a serious error of judgment, it was his own fault and something for which he had to take full responsibility”.
The court heard Flower had a higher role in the drug smuggling operation than Mafiti and the sentence handed down had to reflect that.
“The evidence establishes Flower played a significant managerial and organisational role,” Judge Huggett said.
“He was involved in aspects of the planning phase for the importation of the cocaine, as well as its disposition once it had arrived in Sydney, and had been collected and transported out of the airport by Mafiti.”
Judge Huggett said Mafiti and Flower came before the court with relatively good prior character and “neither significant prior convictions”.
“I’m prepared to find that each offender is genuinely contrite and remorseful and takes responsibility for his conduct,” she said.
“Since being in custody, both offenders have done what they can to take steps towards rehabilitation. Each has been employed in trusted positions and is held in high regard by Correctives officers.”
Flower and Mafiti received convictions for importing a commercial quantity of a border control drug and dealing with proceeds of crime offences.
Judge Huggett sentenced Flower to a 28-year prison term, with a non-parole period of 17 years.
Mafiti received a 23-year head sentence and a 14-year non-parole period.
With both sentences backdated to when the pair entered custody after their arrest, Flower will be eligible for parole in 2036 while Mafiti will be eligible for parole in 2033.
Before his fall from grace, radio heavyweight Alan Jones, adman John Singleton and rugby league legend Phil Gould were among the people Flower purchased racehorses with.
There is no suggestion Flower’s co-owners were aware of his criminal conduct.
