Standen says former informant wanted out

BY MARGARET SCHEIKOWSKI

10 Jun, 2011 07:34 AM

Former NSW crime investigator Mark Standen has told his drugs trial of the close relationship he had with an informant whom he thought was giving up crime.

Standen said he had expected James Kinch to ''disengage from crime'' for reasons including his acknowledgment that most of his drug associates were ''lunatics''.

The 54-year-old former NSW Crime Commission investigator is the first defence witness at his own NSW Supreme Court trial, which began 12 weeks ago.

He denies conspiring with Kinch, a drug dealer turned informant, and foodstuffs businessman Bakhos ''Bill'' Jalalat between early 2006 and June 2008 to import pseudo-ephedrine, which is used to make the drugs ''speed'' and ''ice''.

He also denies taking part in the supply of 300kg of the substance and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Standen told the jury yesterday that he began his law enforcement career in 1975, had five brothers and four children.

He became the ''handler'' of Kinch, a ''serious criminal'', who turned informant after his 2003 Sydney arrest for drugs and proceeds of crime offences.

Standen said Kinch provided ''a great deal of information'', including the location of 72kg of ecstasy in a storage shed. Other information related to a major Dutch drug syndicate, which was passed on to authorities in Holland.

His barrister, Mark Ierace SC, asked how he rated Kinch from the time of his arrest until he left Australia in February 2004.

''I would rate him very highly, if out of 10, it was 10,'' Standen said.

He maintained contact and received information from Kinch after he left the country following the dropping of his charges and his forfeiture of more than $900,000 to the commission.

''Generally if you maintain an amiable relationship with people, they are more likely to contact you if and when they learn something of interest,'' he said.

''On one view, he was placing his life in the hands of authorities, through me.''

Based on many conversations with Kinch, Standen said he expected him to leave his life of crime and make an honest living.

He said Kinch provided a lot of significant information to him and was unhappy with his criminal associates, feeling he had ''been used and abused'' by them.

Standen said he observed that most of Kinch's associates were ''lunatics'', which Kinch acknowledged, saying ''he got lost in that environment and that world''.

By the end of 2005, their relationship was ''good, friendly, on a personal level trusting''.

The informant/handler relationship was not in existence ''in a formal sense'', but ''I had expectations that I would hear from him if he heard of things of interest to me in Australia''. He said Kinch kept him updated on his efforts to make an honest living, which included an investment company in Dubai.

Standen said while some criminals were incorrigible, others if they had other options and ''are made to stop and think about it'' can change.

''There's no reason to think they cannot disengage from crime,'' he said.

The trial is continuing before Justice Bruce James.

Top cop Mark Standen received $47,500 for Christmas, court hears

Katherine Danks From: The Daily Telegraph June 11, 2011 12:00AM

CASH-STRAPPED crime fighter Mark Standen accepted a Christmas gift of $47,500 from an informant, but says he doesn't believe it compromised their relationship.

Mark Standen

The money was to pay for laser eye surgery for Standen, the former assistant commissioner of the NSW Crime Commission, the Supreme Court was told yesterday.

Standen said informant James Kinch knew that he wanted the surgery and he had previously mentioned a cost of $5000.

He said he was surprised when Kinch, who was overseas, sent him the equivalent of $47,500.

Standen yesterday told the court he arranged for the money to be transferred into the account of friend Bakhos Jalalaty, rather than his own.

"A transfer from the name James Kinch into my account would ring alarm bells at the Crime Commission if, for whatever reason, they saw the transaction," he said.

But the 54-year-old said he did not believe the money compromised their handler-informant relationship. He said he was doing his job as long as he continued to pass on Kinch's information to Crime Commission investigators.

Standen denies conspiring with Kinch and Jalalaty between early 2006 and June 2008 to import $120 million of pseudoephedrine, used to make the drugs speed and ice.

Continuing with his evidence yesterday, Standen also revealed Kinch gave Jalalaty $1 million in a sports bag in early 2006 so that the food importer could fund a business venture.

Standen said the three men often talked about business opportunities and it was implied they would one day go into business together.

One of the many ideas the trio discussed was Standen's invention of a water saving device, which he had patented in 2005.

Standen said his job was good, but exhausting, and he wasn't sure it was something he could do for another 10-15 years at the pace that was required.

In response to questioning from his barrister Mark Ierace SC, Standen said he knew that accepting the $47,500 would have broken the Commission's rules, adding "they would be concerned presumably about perception".

At the time, in 2005, he was making repayments on multiple credit cards and loans but this was "manageable" and "not too bad, compared with the end of 2007".

Standen said he went ahead with it because Kinch had been an informant for the two preceding years and he had been kept up to date with Kinch's business dealings.

"Did you turn your mind to the possibility that the money had not been lawfully obtained?" Mr Ierace asked.

"No," Standen replied.

The trial is continuing before Justice Bruce James.

Standen details drug dealer's value as informer

Geesche Jacobsen
June 10, 2011

FOR nearly three months Mark Standen had sat in the dock and listened to the prosecution case against him.

When it came time to start telling his side of the story yesterday morning he appeared eager and confident, striding quickly to the witness box. For the rest of the day he talked enthusiastically about his old job, even telling the occasional joke.

A former assistant director of the NSW Crime Commission, Mr Standen is accused of conspiring with a former informer, James Kinch, and a businessman to import a large quantity of pseudoephedrine, of perverting the course of justice and of taking part in the supply of the precursor chemical.

After Mr Standen outlined his 33-year career in law enforcement, his barrister Mark Ierace, SC, asked him about his dealings with Mr Kinch.

Mr Kinch had become a friend, but was the most valuable informer, a 10 out of 10, Mr Standen said. Both the Australian Federal Police and Dutch officers wanted to deal with him, but Mr Kinch preferred to deal with Mr Standen.

''In the case of someone as valuable as I assessed Mr Kinch to be, he was worth the time and effort,'' Mr Standen explained.

The Supreme Court has heard about Mr Standen's extensive contact, by phone and on draft emails, with the former drug dealer, after Mr Kinch was arrested in Australia in 2003 and before Mr Standen's arrest in June 2008.

Mr Standen said Dutch police visited Australia two or three times to get information through him from Mr Kinch.

''It would be an understatement to say they were excited by the information flowing from Mr Kinch,'' he said.

Mr Kinch mistrusted ''elements'' of the Dutch police and refused to deal with them, although he eventually agreed to speak to the AFP, Mr Standen said.

He believed Mr Kinch wanted to make an honest living, but had to do so without arousing suspicion from previous associates.

''There's no reason to think [informers] cannot disengage from crime'', Mr Standen said.
He said Mr Kinch insisted on using draft emails in which Mr Standen called him Jill or Jojo, and signed off as Maurice, because he was worried about associates finding out about their contact.

The trial continues.

Drug importer bonded with me: Standen

Jodie Minus and Matthew Miller
From:The Australian
June 10, 2011 12:00AM

CRIME fighter Mark Standen was on such good terms with informant James Henry Kinch he was once invited to the drug-trafficker's house for curry.

The former NSW Crime Commission boss, 54, told the NSW Supreme Court yesterday the pair bonded from the day they met - four days after Kinch's arrest for drug importation and money laundering in 2003.

Mr Standen is facing an unrelated trial for allegedly conspiring with Kinch and food importer Bakhos Jalalaty to bring $120 million worth of pseudoephedrine into Australia in 2008.

Mr Standen told the court Kinch was brought to the commission's offices in Sydney on March 18, 2003, with the idea of developing a handler-informer relationship between the two.

Within weeks, Kinch tipped off Standen about a storage shed containing 72kg of ecstasy, two other sheds that contained evidence of previous drug activity and information about a 157kg ecstasy stash hidden in air cargo.
Mr Standen rated Kinch as "10 out of 10" and said he was "worth the effort" and a "valuable" informant.

In return, Mr Standen helped Kinch secure a deal with the Director of Public Prosecutions to drop the money-laundering charge if he pleaded guilty to drug importation.

Part of the reason for Mr Standen's success as a handler was his technique, which involved talking on a personal level with the contact and always being available.

"You treat them humanely . . . ask them about their family, make them comfortable", he told the court. "(This) establishes a level of trust."
Kinch would often phone late at night because he was lonely and wanted to talk, which was not surprising, Mr Standen said, since he was a foreign national in Australia with few friends.

"We spoke about his personal circumstances, his misspent youth . . . his dealings with criminals, his family, his son, both his daughters," he said.
The relationship became so close that Kinch refused to supply information to anyone but Mr Standen, despite attempts by Dutch authorities and the AFP.

When Kinch left Australia, he set up a hotmail account for the pair to communicate anonymously through draft emails because, Mr Standen said, he was concerned his criminal colleagues could become aware of their relationship.

Informant a friend, says crime fighter Mark Standen

Lisa Davies From: The Daily Telegraph June 10, 2011 12:00AM

FORMER Crime Commission officer Mark Standen - accused of conspiring to import drugs with his one-time informant - yesterday publicly denied the charges as he entered the witness box at his Sydney trial.

A law enforcement officer for more than 35 years, Mr Standen was the first witness in his own defence against claims he conspired to import the drugs with the former informant and a businessman-friend.

Mr Standen, who denies the charges, said he had first met then-informant James Henry Kinch in early 2003, when Mr Kinch was arrested in Sydney for drugs and money laundering offences.

The former assistant director of the Crime Commission said he rated Mr Kinch "very highly" as an informant, saying "if it was [assessed] out of 10, it would be 10".

Mr Standen, 54, said that by the time Mr Kinch left Australia with all his charges dropped, the pair could be regarded as friends.

The jury has previously heard claims that Mr Standen flouted the commission's rules and policies regarding informants, but he said yesterday his approach worked.

"My starting position, with only a few exceptions ... [was that] informers are people first," he said.

He said criminals were usually surprised when "someone takes the time to take interest in their own lives" and they responded positively.

"It makes them comfortable, it establishes an element of trust and comfort. If someone doesn't trust you they're highly unlikely to place their life in your hands," he said.

"I've met with considerable successes by [using] that method."

Mr Standen, who has four children, told the court the pair bonded during those early months as Mr Kinch "downloaded the information in his head" about drug and money-laundering syndicates.

But with the English-born informant free to leave the country in February 2004 after his charges were withdrawn, he told Mr Standen he would turn over a new leaf.

Mr Kinch had realised, Mr Standen said, that he had "got lost in that [criminal] world, got swept along by it" and "felt ten feet tall" but planned to leave his criminal life behind.

Mr Standen believed that after all the information Mr Kinch had given authorities both here and abroad about his criminal links that "only an idiot would do it again".

Mr Standen said it was Mr Kinch's idea for them to communicate using codenames.

Crime Commission man tells of $47,000 from drug dealer

Geesche Jacobsen

June 11, 2011

THE former Crime Commission investigator Mark Standen ''compartmentalised'' his life and believed receiving a ''Christmas present'' of more than $47,000 from a former drug dealer-turned informer did not compromise him.

But he admitted to attempts to ''thinly disguise'' the payment because he knew it would ''ring alarm bells'' with his employer and breach commission rules.

Mr Standen, who is on trial on three charges including conspiring with the informer James Kinch and the businessman Bill Jalalaty to import pseudoephedrine, was giving evidence in his defence.

He also told the court he did not believe Mr Jalalaty when he told him he had received $1 million in cash in a sportsbag from a friend of Mr Kinch's.

He said he believed Mr Kinch had transferred the money into Mr Jalalaty's account to invest.

For most of yesterday Mr Standen interpreted emails between himself and Mr Kinch, outlining the assistance Mr Kinch had given to Crime Commission investigations.

Among other people, Mr Standen said Mr Kinch was providing information about a British criminal who was planning to come to Sydney, and he and Mr Kinch were plotting how to obtain the man's secret phone number.

He said he asked Mr Jalalaty to inquire about buying acetone, so the man could be asked to contact him, and his number could be obtained.

The plan was a ruse but before he knew it Mr Jalalaty had bought $30,000 worth of the substance, which the court heard could be used to make illegal drugs or cleaning products.

Mr Standen said yesterday he discussed personal matters with Mr Kinch, including his plans to go into business with Mr Jalalaty in late 2005.

In late 2005 Mr Kinch asked Mr Standen for account details because he wanted to pay for his laser eye surgery as a Christmas present. Mr Standen asked the money be sent to Mr Jalalaty's account. Instead of the required, Mr Kinch sent £20,000.

Mr Standen said he did not consider the money might be from illegal sources. ''It would be a little crazy for him to send illegally acquired money to my account … which was the initial plan,'' Mr Standen said.

His barrister, Mark Ierace, SC, asked him if he believed it compromised his professional relationship with Mr Kinch.

''Not in my mind,'' Mr Standen replied.

''In my mind I compartmentalised things and I operated on the basis [that] provided the work compartment remained intact and I did all the things that were required of me in relation to information coming from Mr Kinch … the business compartment operated independent of that.''


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/crime-commission-man-tells-of-47000-from-drug-dealer-20110610-1fwzi.html#ixzz1PNeVm3C6

Informant paid for top cop's eye surgery

By Katherine Danks 

The Daily Telegraph

June 10, 2011 1:58PM

FORMER NSW Crime Commission assistant commissioner Mark Standen says he had laser eye surgery paid for by a criminal informant.

In the Supreme Court today, Standen said English-born informant James Henry Kinch offered to pay for the surgery as a Christmas present in 2005.

Mark Standen

Standen said he organised for the money to be transferred to the bank account of friend Bakhos Jalalaty to "thinly disguise" the transaction from the Crime Commission.

He expected to receive about $5,000 from Kinch, and was surprised when Jalalaty informed him $47,500 had been transferred.

The transfer of money was against Crime Commission rules, but Standen said he had known Kinch for two years and did not believe it had compromised their handler-informant relationship.

In other evidence, Standen described his former work at the Crime Commission as "long and hectic" and that he knew he could not continue in the role forever.

Standen, Kinch and Jalalaty discussed new business opportunities and it was "implied" they would go into business together, the court was told.

Standen is standing trial for conspiring with Kinch and Jalalaty to bring $120 million worth of pseudoephedrine into Australia in 2008.

The case continues.

NSW ex-crime fighter takes stand at trial

Margaret Scheikowski

June 9, 2011

Former NSW crime fighter Mark Standen has told his drugs trial of the close relationship he had with an informant whom he thought was giving up his life of crime.

Standen said he had expected James Kinch to "disengage from crime" for reasons including his acknowledgment that most of his drug associates were "lunatics".

The 54-year-old former NSW Crime Commission investigator is the first defence witness at his NSW Supreme Court trial, which began 12 weeks ago.

He denies conspiring with Kinch, a drug dealer turned informant, and foodstuffs businessman Bakhos "Bill" Jalalat between early 2006 and June 2008 to import pseudoephedrine, which is used to make the drugs "speed" and "ice".

He also denies taking part in the supply of 300 kilograms of the substance and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Standen told the jury on Thursday that he began his law enforcement career in 1975, had five brothers and four children.

He became the "handler" of Kinch, a "serious criminal", who turned informant after his 2003 Sydney arrest for drugs and proceeds of crime offences.

Standen said Kinch provided "a great deal of information", including the location of 72kg of ecstasy in a storage shed.

Other information related to a major Dutch drug syndicate, which was passed on to the authorities in Holland.

His barrister, Mark Ierace SC, asked how he rated Kinch from the time of his arrest until he left Australia in February 2004.

"I would rate him very highly, if out of 10, it was 10," Standen said.

He maintained contact and received information from Kinch after he left the country following the dropping of his charges and his forfeiture of more than $900,000 to the commission.

"Generally if you maintain an amiable relationship with people, they are more likely to contact you if and when they learn something of interest," he said.

"On one view, he was placing his life in the hands of authorities, through me."

Based on many conversations with Kinch, Standen said he expected him to leave his life of crime and make an honest living.

He said Kinch provided a lot of significant information to him and was unhappy with his criminal associates, feeling he had "been used and abused" by them.

Standen said he observed that most of Kinch's associates were "lunatics", which Kinch acknowledged, saying "he got lost in that environment and that world".

By the end of 2005, their relationship was "good, friendly, on a personal level - trusting".

The informant/handler relationship was not in existence "in a formal sense", but "I had expectations that I would hear from him if he heard of things of interest to me in Australia".

He said Kinch kept him updated on his efforts to make an honest living, which included an investment company in Dubai.

Standen said while some criminals were incorrigible, others - if they had other options and "are made to stop and think about it" - can change.

"There's no reason to think they cannot disengage from crime," he added.

The trial is continuing before Justice Bruce James.

Former Crime Commission assistant director Mark Standen begins testimony

By Lisa Davies From: The Daily Telegraph June 09, 2011 12:04PM

• Former crime investigator denies charges
• Accused of conspiring to import drugs
• Begins giving evidence in his defence

FORMER crime investigator Mark Standen has begun giving evidence in his defence of drug plot charges, detailing a 35 year career in law enforcement.

The former New South Wales Crime Commission assistant director, now aged 54, began his testimony this morning after the Crown case against him closed yesterday following 11 weeks of evidence in the Supreme Court.

Standen denies three counts, including conspiring to import 300kg of pseudoephedrine with a businessman friend Bill Jalalaty and a English-born informant, James Henry Kinch.

He's also accused of intending to supply that drug, and using his position in the Commission to pervert the course of justice.

Beginning his evidence shortly after 10am, Standen appeared eager to begin his testimony and took the oath with familiarity.

He told the court he has five brothers and four children, two of them in their 20s, the youngest aged nine.

He began his working life in the Australian Customs service in June 1975, working as a customs officer in the then-Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

He was also formerly an agent at the Australian Federal Police, the then-National Crime Authority, the Australian Crime Commission then finally, the NSW Crime Commission.

Standen began working there in March 1996, and stayed there until his arrest in June 2008.

The Crown alleges it was Standen's relationship with Kinch which ultimately became corrupted, leading to the plot to import the drugs - used to make ice and speed.

Standen has told of his first meeting with Kinch, who was arrested in NSW in March 2003, and the valuable information he was able to give authorities about a Dutch-based drug syndicate.

"Over the next weeks and months he ... downloaded the information in his head," Standen said.

He agreed he had helped ensure Kinch got bail on serious drugs and money-laundering charges.

Kinch ultimately left the country a year later, all charges having been dropped.

Standen's evidence continues before the jury and Justice Bruce James.

Crown closes case against Mark Standen, defence to proceed tomorrow

Lisa Davies From: The Daily Telegraph  June 08, 2011 12:00AM

Media shy ... Louise Baker leaving court / Pic: Ross Schultz Source:
The Daily Telegraph

THE Crown has formally closed its case against former NSW Crime Commission investigator Mark Standen, after 11 weeks of often evidence.

The jury has been told some legal issues have to be resolved, with the Justice Bruce James hopeful the trial can proceed with the defence case tomorrow morning.

Standen's counsel, Mark Ierace SC, has previously told the court his client will give evidence.

Earlier, the court heard that Mark Standen clearly was smitten with his then colleague Louise Baker, but theirs was not the lifestyle of a financially-stressed policeman and a lowly Crime Commission "monitor".

Ms Baker yesterday gave evidence at her former lover's trial, telling the Supreme Court that he bought her diamond jewellery, meals in top restaurants and stays in exclusive hotels.

But the jury previously has heard of the married investigator's ongoing financial problems, including once confessing to a friend he could not afford to buy groceries for his family.

Ms Baker told of him taking calls from banks about credit card bills - which he assured her were about to be paid.

Mr Standen, the former AFP agent and assistant director at the NSW Crime Commission, is on trial accused of becoming involved in a plot to import more than 300kg of pseudoephedrine in a bid to avoid complete financial disaster.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Sneaking only occasional glances in his direction, Ms Baker yesterday said Standen used both cash and credit cards to fund their outings.

She said the pair, who began an intimate relationship in August 2006, often spent between $250 and $500 on a single meal at restaurants like Otto, Aria, Tetsuyas and Doyles.

Mr Standen also lavished her with gifts including a diamond ring worth more than $4500, a Tiffany necklace worth $1250 and even a $2485 Fendi bag for Christmas.

To celebrate their first anniversary, they went to Rockpool restaurant and he gave her a Chanel bag worth almost $3000.

The pair also stayed in hotels including the Intercontinental, Sheraton Four Points and the Four Seasons, because Ms Baker still lived with her mother and Standen mostly commuted from his Central Coast family home.

But most crucial to the trial's key issues was a trip the couple took to Dubai in January 2007, which the Crown has alleged "was to formulate the further plans about the anticipated importation including, importantly, methods of communication".

Their business class flights were paid for by one alleged co-conspirator, Bill Jalalaty, who joined them on the trip, and the trio had dinner one night with the other alleged conspirator- former informer James Henry Kinch.

Ms Baker said she later queried her boyfriend about Mr Kinch believing that "I wasn't to be trusted".

"His response was he used to be a drug importer and he wanted to become legit and invest in businesses (like Jalalaty's)," she said.

Enforcers deny doing deals with criminals

Geesche Jacobsen June 7, 2011

THE head of the NSW Crime Commission, Phillip Bradley, has rejected suggestions the commission advocates for criminals to have charges dropped, or that such discussions are ever linked to attempts to confiscate their assets.

Phillip Bradley ... 

public interest comes first. 

Photo: Brendan Esposito

The commission always put the public interest ahead of its own, and the only undertaking it gave to informers was that it would ''act responsibly and that we provide accurate information'' to authorities, Mr Bradley told the Supreme Court yesterday.

Mr Bradley gave evidence at the trial of the senior commission investigator Mark Standen, who is accused of conspiring with the drug dealer-turned-informer James Kinch and businessman Bill Jalalaty to import pseudoephedrine.

Asked about Mr Standen's involvement with Mr Jalalaty, who was the husband of the former Federal Police agent Dianne James, Mr Bradley told the court: ''I did know there was a woman; I'm not sure I knew her name. [Mr Standen] had told me he had a friend from the Federal Police … Dianne James or Jones. … I don't think he told me she was the partner of the business associate.''

The court has heard Mr Standen first met Mr Kinch after he was arrested in Sydney in March 2003 and charged with money laundering and drug matters. In May 2003 Mr Standen had asked Mr Bradley to contact the deputy director of public prosecutions, Greg Smith, about Mr Kinch's money laundering charge, which Mr Standen described in an email to his boss as the ''stumbling block to our confiscation settlement''.

The Crown prosecutor Tim Game, SC, yesterday asked Mr Bradley: ''Is it appropriate for what happens to a charge to be a stumbling block to confiscation?''

''I think the short answer is no,'' Mr Bradley replied.
Asked if in this case he thought there was a connection between the two matters in Mr Standen's mind, he said he thought ''there was at least a connection in the mind of Mr Kinch''.

The money laundering charge was dropped soon after a document prepared by Mr Standen, but sent to Mr Smith under Mr Bradley's signature, said Mr Kinch had given valuable information and offered to plead guilty on the drug charges.

Mr Bradley conceded yesterday that ''it would be easy to interpret my letter as some sort of advocacy''.

The trial continues.

A $300,000 washout - Crime Commission handed cash to accused drug pair, court hears

Lisa Davies From: The Daily Telegraph June 07, 2011 12:00AM

THE head of the NSW Crime Commission authorised $300,000 to be laundered through an informant of investigator Mark Standen, only to have the pair later accused of plotting to import drugs and the money disappearing.

Phillip Bradley testified yesterday at the trial of his former employee Mr Standen, who became the commission's primary "handler" for the English-born James Kinch, in March 2003.

The Crown alleges this police-informant relationship ultimately corrupted, with the duo conspiring with Mr Standen's friend and businessman Bill Jalalaty, to import ephedrine into Australia.

Mr Standen denies any knowledge of an alleged plot to import a 300kg-600kg haul of the precursor in a shipment of rice from Pakistan through his friend's company.

Mr Bradley, the head of the NSWCC since 1996, said he relied on Mr Standen as his source of information about Mr Kinch's help to them.

After his arrest in 2003 for drug supply and money laundering offences, Mr Kinch told the commission of a group of Sydney-based business people who had laundered up to $60 million in cash during the previous 12 months.

Ultimately, "a controlled payment of $300,000" was made by Mr Kinch to the money launderers. Mr Bradley yesterday said he had approved the operation and believed that it was successful.

Mr Bradley's second-in-charge, director and solicitor John Giorgiutti, told the court last week the operation was only to "better understand" the laundering operation.

"I think what Mr Kinch brought to the table, so to speak, was that these people were currently active," Mr Giorgiutti said.

Both men agreed the commission had never been able to corroborate Mr Kinch's assertion that $50 million to $60 million was laundered by way of the same people.

Mr Bradley said Mr Kinch continued to provide "further useful information" but by mid-2007, as a covert investigation by the Australian Federal Police began, Mr Standen classified the Englishman as an "inactive" informant.

This was despite alleged ongoing contact between the pair, which the Crown says included a meeting in Dubai and emails in which they allegedly plotted the importation of the drugs.

Mr Kinch had left Sydney in early 2004, all his charges having been dropped.

The trial before Justice Bruce James continues.