Men Jailed for Failed Plot to Smuggle Cocaine from Papua New Guinea

Cocaine is a problem.

The news happened on Thursday, July 16, 2026, at 3:51 pm.

A plane took off from Mareeba in Queensland, Australia, and went to Papua New Guinea.

This is a short version of the story:

A man was jailed for 22 years for trying to bring a lot of cocaine into Australia.

The plane had almost 550 kilograms of cocaine, worth over $80 million.

The plane was going to Mareeba in Queensland but did not leave Papua New Guinea.

The plan to smuggle drugs took two years to make but failed quickly.

The plane had a lot of cocaine and took off from near Port Moresby, but it crashed.

The plane did not fly far before it crashed into trees.

The pilot, David Cutmore, was sentenced to 18 years in jail in Papua New Guinea.

There is a picture of the crashed plane near Port Moresby.

Two men who planned the crime and another man were sentenced in a court in Victoria.

A judge told the men they would have been very rich if they had succeeded.

Many people came to support the men in court, and some were very sad when the judge gave the sentences.

The main man behind the plan was jailed for 22 years.

The judge said the man had big debts and wanted to make money to pay them.

Another man, Aiden Khoder, was given a 21-year sentence.

Khoder has been in trouble for drugs before and is described as 'ambitious and greedy'.

A man named George Machem was given a seven-year sentence for a smaller role in the crime.

The plan to smuggle cocaine took almost two years to make and involved changing the plane.

The cocaine was burned at a secure place in Queensland in 2024.

The plane flew from Mareeba to Papua New Guinea with TVs and games, which were swapped for cocaine.

When the plane crashed, the cocaine was hidden in mangroves and soon found by the police.

The case took a long time to go through the courts, and the men agreed to plead guilty last year.

The judge said the men's families will also suffer while they are in jail.

The judge said the men are sorry for what they did.

The cocaine was burned by the Australian Federal Police in 2024.

Another man was jailed for four and a half years, and one man was found not guilty.

Four men in Papua New Guinea were also jailed.

A police officer said the group was tracked from an early stage.

The police officer said the group's plan shows how far criminals will go to make money.

The officer also said the plane crash was lucky because no one was killed.

The news happened on Thursday, July 16, 2026, at 3:51 pm.

The news happened on Thursday, July 16, 2026, at 6:15 pm.

You can find more news on the ABC website.

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