Matt Shand / Stuff
Mario Habulin, a Croatian national and former Special Forces soldier, appealed and reduced his sentence.
Three members of a drug group that tried to smuggle cocaine worth $ 20 million to New Zealand successfully reduced their sentences by arguing that it was not as bad as meth.
The men, a Serb, a Croat and an Australian, were sentenced in February 2020 in Rotorua’s High Court for the conspiracy involving submersible scooters, gym bags full of cash and the use of container ships as ignorant drug mules.
The sentences have been overturned by the Court of Appeal – and now the Croatian Mario Habulin will serve 23 years and 4 months in prison instead of 27 years and six months, the Serb Deni Cavallo will serve 17 years and 8 months instead of 23 years, and the Australian Matthew John Scott would serve 20 years and 5 months instead of 24 years.
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The men were a group of foreign nationals who were part of an international, organized criminal group that imported cocaine from South America through the port of Tauranga in three shipments in June, July and October 2017.
Habulin imported a total of 76 kg of cocaine, supplied 25 kg of the first two consignments and transferred $ 1 498 500 to a money laundering company.
Matt Shand / Stuff
Matthew John Scott’s 24-year prison sentence was reduced to 20 years and 5 months.
Scott helped provide the first two shipments and transferred $ 1,192,000 to the money laundering business.
Both Scott and Cavallo assisted with the import of the third consignment of 46 kg.
They were charged with drug-related and money laundering crimes and pleaded guilty at the start of the trial in light of what was described as an “overwhelming Crown case”.
The men’s plot was undone in November 2017 when 46 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of about $ 20 million, were seized in a dawn raid in Tauranga.
It was the second largest seizure of cocaine in the history of New Zealand to date.
Their operation involves the use of Maersk Line ships that traveled through the South Pacific Express service and transported the drugs in underwater memory that would be stored and tracked down by divers later in the night.
The ships would travel through Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Peru, with the last stop before Tauranga San Vicente, Chile.
Shortly after each ship left San Vicente, Habulin and Cavallo would travel to New Zealand.
They will pose as amusement park owners and amusement park engineers when giving their reason for visiting New Zealand to customs.
Matt Shand / Stuff
Croatian Mario Habulin will now serve 23 years and 4 months in prison instead of 27 years and six months.
Money was laundered by a Vietnamese money laundering service, while Habulin allegedly took hundreds of thousands of cash stored in a gym bag for laundry.
In their appeal, the men argued the sentences were “clearly excessive” in light of the lesser damage of cocaine compared to that of methamphetamine.
They also argued that sentencing should have allowed higher discounts for their personal mitigating circumstances.
Evidence submitted to the Court of Appeal showed that cocaine powder is less toxic and harmful than methamphetamine, according to the ruling.
Therefore, cocaine violation should generally be sentenced slightly below comparable methamphetamine starting points.
The Court of Appeal consequently reduced the starting point of the men’s sentences to account for this.
As for personal mitigating factors, the court said Scott overcame early life problems to become a successful adult, and did not suffer from a systemic inability to distinguish right from wrong.
It is said that there was also “very modest coherence” between the offender and Habulin and Cavallo’s backgrounds.
The sentencing judge had already given a sentencing rebate for the men’s foreign status, considering the appellants had chosen to come to New Zealand to seriously offend and make substantial profits.
“It mitigates the required response to the hardships they would otherwise experience,” it said.
However, it came to the conclusion that the judge made a mistake by refusing to give a discount to Scott’s rehabilitation prospects, as evidence showed that he could cope in adulthood after the adversity of his childhood.
As a result, starting points were discounted by 15% for Cavallo and Habulin and 20% for Scott.