WA Supreme Court hears details of alleged Rottnest Island cocaine smuggling attempt

Three men who allegedly set out on a boat to retrieve packages of cocaine off Rottnest Island on a "dark and stormy night" had to be rescued by water police, the WA Supreme Court has heard.

The men were on board a vessel named "No Fixed Address", which had been bought for $65,000 cash.

But it was not taken out for a sea trial, and the trio found themselves rolling in choppy waters before their rescue.

Two of the men who were on the boat are part of a group of five people now on trial in the WA Supreme Court over the alleged importation.

Prosecutor Steven Whybrow told the jury the men on the boat had new phones, coolers and hooks, which were allegedly to be used to drag packages of drugs on board.

But the court heard the cocaine, carefully wrapped in waterproof brick-sized packages, did not leave the cargo vessel the men were meant to rendezvous with.

Prosecutor Whybrow said the MV St Pinot had left from Argentina for Fremantle with a load of soy bean meal, for chicken feed, but was also carrying nearly 850kg of cocaine.

Vessel boarded

The prosecutor said the cocaine was not to feed chickens, but to feed the drug trade in Australia.

He told the jury the authorities had information that a large ship was going to bring drugs to Australia, and St Pinot was drifting off Rottnest instead of anchoring, ready to offload soy bean meal at Fremantle.

MV St Pinot was boarded by ABF officers and Royal Australian Navy divers were brought in to inspect a water-filled ballast tank.

In total, 29 packages of cocaine were discovered.

The fact that the cocaine was found on the vessel is not in dispute, but who brought it to Australia and who wanted to receive it is.

Plot like 'Pulp Fiction'

The failed alleged drug importation in 2023 is now the subject of a lengthy trial involving five accused.

The captain of St Pinot, 46-year-old Milan Begovic, is accused of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.

Two of the men who were on No Fixed Address, Germanas Joneliunas, 24, and Terrence Baker, 29, are accused of attempting to import the cocaine.

Ashley Vlotman, 40, and Meagan Rees, 35, are accused of aiding the attempted importation.

Mr Whybrow said there were lots of moving parts to the prosecution's case, and compared it the film Pulp Fiction, in that it jumped around but came together as one story.

He also said the jurors could also think of it as a jigsaw.

The trial, which involves the use of two interpreters, is expected to run for more than 10 weeks.