Port Chalmers cocaine bust pair back in court with new charges

Two foreign nationals accused of a conspiracy to import 91kg of cocaine into the country on a container ship have been remanded in custody again, until November 14.

Carlos Davide Ferreira-Sampaio, 45, of Portugal, and Matthew Luke Hodder, 31, of Melbourne appeared before the Dunedin District Court this morning where both entered no plea or application for bail.

Both were remanded in custody until their next appearance on November 14, when they will appear by video link.

The men have been charged with conspiring to deal a class A drug.

Defence counsel for Hodder, Brian Kilkelly, said there was information from Australia they were waiting for.

Hodder told Judge Dominic Flatley that he had legal support from a lawyer from Australia who could not practise in New Zealand.

He had been provided the names of two New Zealand lawyers and he had them on a piece of paper, but had not brought it with him to court.

He was remanded without plea.

Defence counsel for Ferrerira-Sampaio, John Westgate, also sought remand and made no other applications.

A statement from police last month attributed the attempted importation to an “international crime syndicate”.

They said the defendants were arrested attempting to take drugs off a ship docked at Port Chalmers, but the massive cocaine haul had already been seized by US police in August.

The Otago Daily Times understands the vessel was container ship Spirit of Auckland, which, according to online shipping records, had spent time in Philadelphia and South Carolina, before visiting Panama, Tauranga and Melbourne.

The charge of conspiring to import a class A drug carries a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.