Seafaring couple to stand trial for allegedly aiding fugitive drug trafficker's escape

A seafaring couple accused of attempting to help a wanted drug trafficker flee Australia to avoid criminal justice have been committed to stand trial in Darwin.

German national Thomas Goertz and his partner Jade Siu Ying Ormiston were arrested on a yacht in the Arafura Sea with fugitive drug trafficker Hussein Chamas on January 26, 2025.

Mr Goertz and Ms Ormiston are alleged to have sailed their yacht, the SS Coconuts, to the remote Northern Territory town of Nhulunbuy where they met Chamas on a beach.

The Darwin Local Court heard today that Mr Goertz had been communicating with a shadowy international syndicate under the codename "Aquaman" with a plan to take Chamas, codenamed "VIP", into international waters to allegedly escape facing justice in Australia.

Chamas had absconded from a New South Wales rehab facility earlier that same month.

Judge David Woodroffe said suspicion was aroused after an Australian Border Force (ABF) officer in Nhulunbuy saw Chamas fishing off East Woody Beach with no fishing line.

The judge said written submissions indicated there was a "clandestine meeting with fugitive Chamas" at the beach where Mr Goertz and Ms Ormiston took him aboard and "below deck for him to be taken to international waters in the direction of West Papua".

"The tendency of that conduct, the transportation of the fugitive Chamas to an international destination point out of Australia, would be contrary to requirement for the person not to leave both NSW and the country, as required in the criminal proceedings," the judge said.

Earlier this month Chamas was sentenced to more than 10 years in jail for drug trafficking charges and for trying to flee Australia.

With time served he is eligible for release in 2030.

'High-risk activity for high-end gain'

In delivering his decision for Mr Goertz and Ms Ormiston to stand trial, Judge Woodroffe said there was evidence from encrypted messages which showed Mr Goertz had a history of "extracting" wanted criminals from Australia aboard his yacht for lucrative financial reward.

"This was no mere series of coincidences," he said.

"Goertz, since 2023, has been involved in high-risk activity for high-end gain."

Judge Woodroffe said the submissions contended there was evidence of "long-term planning and coordination over extended periods of time" by the pair, including by purchasing the SS Coconuts and leaving it in dry-docks in Darwin prior to the operation.

"Such abilities and resourcing for international travel, secretive codes, encrypted discussions, avoidance detection payments through transfers, are all indicative of a higher-end criminal activity than people smuggling."

The pair have had their bail extended and will be next required to face the NT Supreme Court on the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice on September 17.