A Brazilian teenager imported almost $2.5 million worth of cocaine into Melbourne after he was offered payment from a man he met in a bar.
Lucas Marcelino Dos Santos, 19, says a man named Fernando offered him $A20,000 to carry the drugs last year.
The minimum wage in Brazil is about $300 to $400 a month, so Marcelino Dos Santos thought the deal would set him up for life, the County Court of Victoria heard.
Marcelino Dos Santos was intercepted at Melbourne's international airport in August after arriving on a flight from Brazil, with more than 4.5 kilograms of cocaine secreted in his suitcases.
He was handed six years jail on Monday after pleading guilty to one count of importing a commercial quantity of cocaine.
The haul was worth almost $2.5 million on the street, Judge Mark Taft said.
Marcelino Dos Santos told police Fernando gave him money for his travel arrangements and handed him two suitcases before his flight.
The man told Marcelino Dos Santos he would be paid $20,000 when he returned to Brazil.
The teenager said he knew it was illegal to import cocaine, but he didn't realise how much was in the bags, the court heard.
Judge Taft said he accepted Marcelino Dos Santos, who has no prior criminal history, was remorseful.
But he rejected an argument from Marcelino Dos Santos' lawyer that he should be held in a youth justice centre, saying the maximum penalty was life in prison and Marcelino Dos Santos had been actively involved in planning the crime.
The judge said he took Marcelino Dos Santos' youth into account sentencing him to jail with a minimum period of three years and three months.
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