A disgraced former senior Australian policeman was Thursday jailed for 22 years for attempting to import a huge quantity of drugs into the country from Pakistan. Mark Standen, 54, was assistant director of the New South Wales (NSW) Crime Commission - with the investigation of drug trafficking one of his key responsibilities - when he was arrested at his desk in 2008.
He used his inside information on Australian drug law agencies built up over 30 years to commit his crimes, Justice Bruce James said in handing down sentence at the NSW Supreme Court. "A matter seriously aggravating the prisoner's criminality was his misuse of knowledge and contacts he had acquired in his career as a law enforcement officer, and the abuse of his position with the NSW Crime Commission," he said.
Before his role with the Crime Commission, father-of-four Standen worked for the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Customs Service. He was found guilty of conspiring to import 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of pseudoephedrine, used to make the drugs speed and ice, in a shipment of rice from Pakistan, although it never arrived in Australia.
Standen was also convicted of knowingly taking part in the supply of a large quantity of illegal drugs, as well as conspiring to pervert the course of justice. The offences occurred between January 2006 and June 2008, with the judge saying he was motivated by greed. He will be eligible for parole after 16 years.
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