Sydney coke ring bag man avoids jail

 A boat, carrying 500kg of cocaine concealed in its hull, was intercepted by police in the Solomons.

The Sydney bag man who was unwittingly caught in a scheme to import half a tonne of cocaine into Australia has avoided being sent to jail.

Zheng Zhao was on Thursday sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court to a two-year intensive corrections order after pleading guilty to dealing with the instruments of crime.

The 40-year-old was caught when he delivered a bag containing $80,000 to an undercover police officer in August 2018.

According to agreed facts, there was no evidence he knew how much money he was carrying or what its purpose was.

Zhao was facing a maximum possible sentence of five years in jail. However, Judge Robert Sutherland said his best chance of rehabilitation was to live in the community under an intensive corrections order.

The court heard that in 2018, the Australian Federal Police became aware of a scheme to import 500 kilograms of cocaine from Colombia into Australia by boat.

The boat would bring the drugs from South America before dropping them overboard off Papua New Guinea with a GPS attached. The Australian-based syndicate was to then pick them up.

Zhao was caught on CCTV at a Haymarket shopping centre on August 30, 2018, meeting with 42-year-old Zhen Tao Qi.

Qi, who is accused of being the syndicate ring leader, has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing for his part in the operation.

A short time later, Zhao drove to Bradfield Park under the Sydney Harbour Bridge where he handed off the $80,000 to the undercover officer.

According to police, the syndicate believed it was paying for the drugs to be picked up and brought into Australia via boat, but Zhao successfully argued he was never told by Qi how much money was in the bag or what it was for.

The next month, Qi and Zhao were simultaneously arrested when the boat, carrying 500 one-kilogram bricks of cocaine concealed in its hull was intercepted by police in the Solomon Islands.

Judge Sutherland said described Zhao as a "cog" in a "very substantial operation" to import drugs into Australia.

"Clearly (the money) was for use for nefarious purposes," Judge Sutherland said.

Under the terms of his sentence, he'll be forced to abide by a strict curfew and perform 500 hours of community service.