THREE ADMIT PART IN DRUG OPERATION

A GEOLOGIST, a geotechnician and a bricklayer have admitted their roles in
a drug smuggling operation that saw speed posted to Broome inside a
hollowed-out book.

Broome police arrested geologist Emma Katherine Keating, 30, and
geotechnician Megan Jade Erhardt, 26, in Broome after they picked up the
package containing the book from Broome Airport on August 14, 2000.

Bricklayer Jeffrey Robert Lehane, 41, who sent the parcel, was arrested
when he returned to Australia from Bali on January 12 last year.

Yesterday, on the first day of the trio's District Court trial, Lehane
pleaded guilty to attempting to supply a prohibited drug methylamphetamine.

Erhardt and Keating pleaded guilty to attempting to possess the prohibited
drug methylamphetamine.

Crown prosecutor Simon Stone told Judge Peter Nisbet that Keating had
agreed to buy half an ounce of speed from Lehane for $2000.

She organised for the payment by electronic transfer and Lehane posted five
books, one of them containing the drug, from a Dunsborough video store
which operates as a Courier Australia agent.

However, police intercepted the parcel and replaced it with a dummy.

Keating arranged for Erhardt to pick up the parcel from the airport.

Erhardt collected the parcel and dropped it into a car through an open window.

The pair later got into the car and drove off before being picked up by police.

Keating's lawyer Rob Mazza said Keating had a drug problem and had intended
to wean herself off speed using the delivery.

The big amount was explained by the fact that she had to have a big stash
while working on a remote mine site as a geologist for Western Metals.

He said she would not gain employment as a geologist again thanks to her
conviction but was undergoing rehabilitation.

Erhardt's lawyer Rob Nash said his client was industrious and trustworthy.
She was not a user and had got involved in the plan only because she had
"misguided loyalty" for Keating.

Lehane's lawyer Ron Cannon said Judge Nisbet should ensure parity of
sentencing.

He suggested suspending any jail sentence. Lehane was a user who had
attempted to supply a friend with drugs at below market price, he said.

However, Mr Stone said Lehane deserved to go to jail.

"Without suppliers such as Mr Lehane the drugs would have difficulty
getting into the community," he said.

Judge Nisbet will sentence the trio tomorrow.