Superyacht sailor James Blake Blee learns fate over botched $20m cocaine plot
- James Blake Blee convicted
- Took ‘calculated risk failed spectacularly’
A superyacht tour operator has been jailed for more than 11 years over the botched import of millions of dollars worth of cocaine, which turned deadly after it ‘botched spectacularly’.
James Blake Blee, 64, appeared in the NSW District Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to people smuggling and importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
The court heard he was approached by someone in Indonesia who offered him large sums of money to become involved in what Blee described as a ‘nefarious’ scheme.
He agreed and smuggled Brazilian nationals Bruno Borges Martins and Jhoni Fernandes Da Silva on his boat from Indonesia to a Darwin port in April 2022.
The court heard that Blee was offered $300,000 for his role in the importation of up to 70kg of cocaine, but that he did not know which cross-border drug the package contained or how much.
Judge Troy Anderson said Blee’s diving and boating skills meant he had ‘relatively unique skills which, in the minds of the syndicate, undoubtedly justified his high price tag’.
The court heard he was only paid $200,000, some of which was spent co-ordinating and facilitating the collection of the drug parcels.
James Blake Blee has been convicted of smuggling people into Australia to facilitate the import of cocaine.
He will not be eligible for parole until 2029
Blee trained the two divers and equipped them with diving equipment so they could dive into Newcastle Harbor to retrieve dozens of bricks of cocaine stored underwater in the hull of a container ship.
On May 9, Mr Martins’ body was found floating in the harbour, surrounded by 42 packets of illegal drugs, with his diving mask still attached. Da Silva was missing and is presumed dead.
Blee was arrested at Cairns airport two days later as he prepared to board a one-way flight to Singapore.
Judge Anderson said he was motivated by financial difficulties to ‘take a calculated risk which, by all appearances, backfired spectacularly’
James Blake Blee is questioned by detectives at Mascot Police Station in 2022
“I accept that this behavior is an aberration,” he said.
“He was not motivated by greed, but by a sad, misguided and desperate financial gamble.”
He sentenced Blee to 11 years and three months in prison, backdated until he was taken into custody in 2022.
Taking into account time served, Blee will spend an additional five years in custody before being eligible for parole in 2029.