The son of a superyacht owner charged with participating in a deadly plot to import $20m of cocaine has made a desperate bid for bail after months behind bars on remand.
James Lake-Kusviandy Blee beamed into the NSW Supreme Court on Monday in his prison greens to make a bid for bail.
Police allege the 21-year-old was involved in a multimillion-dollar plot to import 108kg of cocaine into Australia in May last year.
He has also been charged with supplying the staggering amount of cocaine in Newcastle at the same time.
Police claim the alleged importation scheme turned deadly when Brazilian national Bruno Borges Martins died while scuba diving to retrieve the drug packages.
About 54kg of cocaine was allegedly fetched by another diver who said he couldn’t see the Brazilian.
Mr Blee’s father, 64-year-old James Blake Blee, has been charged with manslaughter over his death.
The superyacht tour operator is accused of smuggling Mr Martins and the other diver into Australia from Indonesia and knowingly providing the Brazilian with faulty diving equipment that led to his death.
Like his son, he is charged with importing and supplying 108kg of cocaine.
Police allege he instructed his son to organise transport for the two smuggled divers to avoid detection before directing the 21-year-old to drive the men to the port where the drugs were stashed.
The younger Mr Blee was also allegedly involved in packing the diving equipment and monitoring the drug extraction at the Newcastle port at his father’s behest.
“The alleged offending conduct is almost entirely (comprised) of doing things at the request of his father,” his lawyer Andrew Boe told the court.
“There is no evidence that the son did anything other than listen.”
The younger Mr Blee has been in custody on remand since his arrest on November 1 last year.
The videographer and actor appeared anxious in court, where he clutched his hands together in front of his chest with his prison shirt buttoned to the top of his throat.
The court was told the Crown would be relying on recorded phone conversations between the 21-year-old and his father in which they allegedly discussed a “recovery plan”.
Crown prosecutor Conor McCraith claims the father and son were discussing the retrieval of their payment for their involvement in the illegal importation.
The court was told Mr Blee senior agreed to be paid $300,000 for his role in bringing in 108kg of cocaine into the country, but a third of the fee would be paid after the job.
The superyacht operator allegedly met a person in Bali who arranged the importation, and police claim he asked his son to recover the remaining payment after he was arrested in May last year.
Police allege the younger Mr Blee arranged for collection via an encrypted platform before he travelled from Queensland to Sydney to pick up $110,000 in cash from people involved in his father’s alleged criminal syndicate.
“He was aware he was involved in a significant drug importation organised by his father and he was to obtain a (substantial) payment for being involved,” Mr McCraith told the court.
Phone taps and CCTV footage videos will form a large part of the “voluminous” crown case against the Blee men, the court was told.
During some of the recorded phone calls, Mr McCraith said the father and son discussed how to “effectively come up with a story that will satisfy police”.
Mr Boe argued in court that neither man talked about illegal drug activity in the phone calls.
The court was told the elder Mr Blee denied his son had been involved in the alleged drug importation.
Mr Boe noted his client had not tried to abscond after his house was raided and his father arrested.
“There is no suggestion that he had taken any steps to flight,” he said.
He said the 21-year-old handed himself into Tweed Heads police station after he was told police were going to arrest him.
The actor has already spent two months behind bars, but the court was told he would likely not face a trial until next year.
Justice Dina Yehia granted the 21-year-old bail after determining he did not pose an unacceptable flight risk.
“A criminal history indicates that he has never been in trouble before,” she said.
His bail was secured by a $50,000 surety provided by a man known to him.
The young actor will be required to report to police daily and will be restricted to the use of only one phone without any access to encrypted platforms.
He is forbidden from accessing any international point of departure, although he will be allowed to return to his home in Queensland.
Mr Blee looked distressed and sighed heavily as the court was told he would be released from custody.
He will return to court on February 8.
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