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Former Iranian child soldier smuggled opium
A FORMER Iranian soldier tried to smuggle 1.2kg of opium into Australia for pain management of his war injuries, a court heard yesterday.
Farhad Davoudi Beni, 42, became an opium addict more than 20 years ago when he was prescribed it to deal with injuries he suffered in a rocket explosion in 1984.
The County Court heard Beni was picked up by Customs officials at Melbourne airport when he returned home from Dubai on January 10, last year.
An X-ray of his luggage revealed a compartment under the lining which, when examined, contained bags of opium with a combined weight of 1.18kg.
After initially denying he knew anything about the packages, Beni admitted he had bought them for $700.
The opium was for personal use as a pain medication and would have lasted him up to a year, the court was told. Beni, of Ringwood, pleaded guilty to one count of importing a border controlled drug.
The court heard Beni was recruited as a child soldier at age 16 into Iran's war with Iraq and saw traumas that "haunt him to this day".
Defence lawyer David Sexton said after leaving the army his client and his family fled Iran for Pakistan, where they lived as refugees for two years.
Mr Sexton said it was during this time that Beni's addiction to opium grew.
Mr Sexton said his client used a family trip home to Iran in 2005 as an opportunity to stock up on the drug and bring it home.
"It was simply an act borne out of desperation," he said.
Judge Tony Duckett bailed Beni for sentence on a date to be fixed.
POLICE and prosecutors have accepted that a Middle Eastern war veteran found with more than a kilogram of opium in his luggage at Melbourne Airport had the drug for personal use.
Farhad Davoudi Beni, 41, panicked and tried to pass off the opium as "just chocolate" after arriving from Dubai in January 2006.
Customs officers found "black, tar-like" substances concealed in the lining of Beni's suitcase after an X-ray showed "inconsistencies" in the luggage.
Rowan Davis, prosecuting, said Beni told police he knew the substance as "tariuk", a medicine used for backaches and headaches.
Mr Davis yesterday told the County Court that Beni bought the opium in Iran for $700 and that he did not "recognise the substance as prohibited as it was used as pain relief".
A more serious charge of importing a marketable quantity of opium, which carries a maximum 25 years' jail, was substituted with a charge that carries a maximum two years' jail or $44,000 fine or both.
The change was made because Beni pleaded guilty to a charge of importing opium and it was conceded he had no "commercial intent", Mr Davis said.
Judge Anthony Duckett heard that two months after Beni's detection in Melbourne, he was arrested outside Sydney Airport buying 200 grams of opium, for which he received a suspended sentence.
Defence lawyer David Sexton told the court that Beni was prescribed opium by his doctors after he was wounded fighting against Iraq in the 1980s. He became addicted to the drug before eventually being granted refugee status in Australia in 1999.
The married father of three, a house painter, struggled to obtain opium in Australia and used methadone and prescribed pain killers before travelling to Iran in 2005 to see family members.
Mr Sexton said returning to Melbourne with opium was an act of desperation so Beni would have enough to last more than a year. He urged Judge Duckett to accept that Beni had established a productive life and that jailing him would create hardship.
Beni, of Ringwood North, was bailed for sentencing in two weeks.
Farhad Davoudi Beni, 42, became an opium addict more than 20 years ago when he was prescribed it to deal with injuries he suffered in a rocket explosion in 1984.
The County Court heard Beni was picked up by Customs officials at Melbourne airport when he returned home from Dubai on January 10, last year.
An X-ray of his luggage revealed a compartment under the lining which, when examined, contained bags of opium with a combined weight of 1.18kg.
After initially denying he knew anything about the packages, Beni admitted he had bought them for $700.
The opium was for personal use as a pain medication and would have lasted him up to a year, the court was told. Beni, of Ringwood, pleaded guilty to one count of importing a border controlled drug.
The court heard Beni was recruited as a child soldier at age 16 into Iran's war with Iraq and saw traumas that "haunt him to this day".
Defence lawyer David Sexton said after leaving the army his client and his family fled Iran for Pakistan, where they lived as refugees for two years.
Mr Sexton said it was during this time that Beni's addiction to opium grew.
Mr Sexton said his client used a family trip home to Iran in 2005 as an opportunity to stock up on the drug and bring it home.
"It was simply an act borne out of desperation," he said.
Judge Tony Duckett bailed Beni for sentence on a date to be fixed.
POLICE and prosecutors have accepted that a Middle Eastern war veteran found with more than a kilogram of opium in his luggage at Melbourne Airport had the drug for personal use.
Farhad Davoudi Beni, 41, panicked and tried to pass off the opium as "just chocolate" after arriving from Dubai in January 2006.
Customs officers found "black, tar-like" substances concealed in the lining of Beni's suitcase after an X-ray showed "inconsistencies" in the luggage.
Rowan Davis, prosecuting, said Beni told police he knew the substance as "tariuk", a medicine used for backaches and headaches.
Mr Davis yesterday told the County Court that Beni bought the opium in Iran for $700 and that he did not "recognise the substance as prohibited as it was used as pain relief".
A more serious charge of importing a marketable quantity of opium, which carries a maximum 25 years' jail, was substituted with a charge that carries a maximum two years' jail or $44,000 fine or both.
The change was made because Beni pleaded guilty to a charge of importing opium and it was conceded he had no "commercial intent", Mr Davis said.
Judge Anthony Duckett heard that two months after Beni's detection in Melbourne, he was arrested outside Sydney Airport buying 200 grams of opium, for which he received a suspended sentence.
Defence lawyer David Sexton told the court that Beni was prescribed opium by his doctors after he was wounded fighting against Iraq in the 1980s. He became addicted to the drug before eventually being granted refugee status in Australia in 1999.
The married father of three, a house painter, struggled to obtain opium in Australia and used methadone and prescribed pain killers before travelling to Iran in 2005 to see family members.
Mr Sexton said returning to Melbourne with opium was an act of desperation so Beni would have enough to last more than a year. He urged Judge Duckett to accept that Beni had established a productive life and that jailing him would create hardship.
Beni, of Ringwood North, was bailed for sentencing in two weeks.