A man charged with importing 300kg of cannabis from South Australia to the Northern Territory has been sentenced to 9 years behind bars by the Darwin Supreme Court.
The 65 year old man, Giuseppe Romeo, was arrested in 2018 following information received by 2 of his associates, both of whom have already been sentenced to 5 years each.
Keep in mind – it wasn’t a one time shipment the trio were pinned for. The 300kg came through over a period between 2016 to 2018.
Romeo has been classed as a career-criminal, having previously being convicted for trafficking heroin and the possession of tools used to cultivate cannabis.
David Morter, the prosecution during the case, had the following to say:
That quantity of cannabis, how could anyone really know whether it’s going to Aboriginal communities, children, people with mental health issues.
We’d like to point out that he does not mention the possibility of any deaths caused by the importation of cannabis. Yet a quick search reveals there are 16.7 alcohol-related deaths per 100,000 people in the NT – 3 times the national average.
Surely public resources should be focused on more pressing issues than the distribution of a relatively small amount of marijuana.