Smuggling pensioner Wilfried D. was sentenced to five years and six months in prison
Photo: private
By Kevin Hildebrand
An elderly man who smuggles crystal meth in bulk with a partner. Sounds like the series hit “Breaking Bad”, but it really happened!
Brandenburg pensioner Wilfried D. was caught in July last year at the airport in the Australian city accompanied by his wife Vera with ten kilograms of meth in their suitcases. Now D. has to go to prison. The District Court of New South Wales in Sydney ruled on Wednesday.
At an earlier hearing in February, the 69-year-old pleaded guilty, which is why his case was subsequently heard in the country’s largest trial court.
︎ Now the verdict: five years and six months in prison for the drug smuggler!
Bags of drugs! Crystal meth was hidden in the inner lining Photo: private
Since Wilfried D. has been in the hands of the Australian judiciary since July, his sentence ends on January 3, 2028. With good behavior, the pensioner may not be released on parole until April 3, 2025 at the earliest.
How things will continue with Vera D. is currently not known. However, a list from the hearing court in Sydney dated August 31, 2022 shows that only Wilfried D. had to appear as a suspect.
World trip with drugs in the luggage
The couple from Panketal near Berlin embarked on one of their regular trips on June 21, 2022. The pensioners flew from Germany to Zimbabwe in Africa and from there on to Sydney. They wanted to be back in Germany on July 10th.
But nothing came of it. On July 4, 2022, Wilfried and Vera D. were arrested during a baggage check at Sydney Airport. Security personnel found ten kilograms of methamphetamine – better known as crystal meth – in the lining of two suitcases.
The drugs are said to be worth around one million euros. According to police, the pensioners were formally charged with illegally importing a “commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug”. According to Australian law, a life sentence would have been possible.