OK Google, what's the best way to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine to pay off a fancy car bought to impress a girlfriend?
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Airport security worker Sam Kul didn't get the answer he was looking for because he's earned nine years in jail.
He was struggling to pay for a high-end Mercedes when he agreed to smuggle cocaine into Australia but the Melbourne Airport security contractor needed some important information first.
So he turned to Google.
"Does customs check every bag Australia", "bringing a million dollars through airport" and "how to browse privately on samsung" were among the questions police found in Kul's mobile phone search history at Melbourne Airport on April 14, 2017.
Kul also asked, "does every bag get scanned airport" and "can money be seen on airport scanners".
He claimed he had been set up and thought he was bringing money into the country but a jury didn't buy it, finding him guilty of importing more than four kilograms of the drug.
It was hidden beneath a false bottom inside a Prada satchel and could have led to more than $4 million in street deals.
The crime carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment but Kul was jailed in Victoria's County Court on Tuesday for nine years.
The 36-year-old must serve six years before being eligible for release on parole.
Prosecutors had argued Kul's job with MSS Security helped him plan the importation.
Judge Trevor Wraight disagreed.
He said Kul had not organised the importation but had been a courier.
The man accepted he had made a mistake and wanted to make the most of his time behind bars by studying, the judge said.
Kul was trying to pay off a loan for an a "overly extravagant" Mercedes-AMG bought to impress his girlfriend when he was caught with the drugs, his barrister Matthew Kowalski had earlier told the court.
Kul was also behind on his mortgage payments and believed he was in for a $20,000 pay day for bringing the drugs into Australia on the way back from a holiday in Rome.
The car was repossessed and the house sold after Kul's arrest but he still owes money on the property.
Kul has already served 443 days of pre-sentence detention.
Australian Associated Press
