06:40 EDT, 21 April 2021
A former RAAF pilot who fostered a child and fundraised for hospitals is behind bars over his failed plan to fly 271kg of ice to Australia.
Hugh Gorman, 75, is also a decorated volunteer firefighter. He and his co-conspirator Peter Caluzzi, 61, met as Freemasons more than a decade ago.
They had long marriages, children, and solid and stable jobs.
But motivated by financial gain, they became tangled up in an intercontinental drug plot to traffic 271kgof ice to Melbourne, with a street value up to $118 million.
After a decade with the RAAF, Gorman took on other flying jobs as well as truck driving. A serious crash in 2011 left him with lasting injuries and an inability to take care of his farming property, bankrupting him.
Crime by Frances Vinall 20th Apr 2021 3:37 PM A suburban accountant and a grandfather on the age pension have been jailed for a failed scheme to import millions of dollars worth of meth into Australia from the US in a private plane. Peter Caluzzi, 61, and Hugh Gorman, 75, were jailed by the County Court of Victoria on Tuesday for 17 years and 14 years respectively for their attempt to import meth into Australia with a value estimated by police at between $37m and $58m. Judge George Georgiou said Caluzzi s friends and family were shocked when it emerged the relatively successful principal accountant at a Sunshine firm, who had no prior convictions, was secretly a drug trafficker.
Friends jailed after hatching plan to fly 180kg of ice into Australia on a converted plane
Posted 2
AprApril 2021 at 5:25am
The men were trying to import 180 kilograms of ice to Australia, which has an estimated street value of close to $118 million.
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A former RAAF pilot who fostered a child and fundraised for hospitals is behind bars over his failed plan to fly 180kg of ice to Australia.
Key points:
The pair tried to import 180 kilograms of the drug ice into Melbourne from the United States
The long-time friends planned to bring the drugs in on a converted plane
Crime by Frances Vinall 20th Apr 2021 3:37 PM A suburban accountant and a grandfather on the age pension have been jailed for a failed scheme to import millions of dollars worth of meth into Australia from the US in a private plane. Peter Caluzzi, 61, and Hugh Gorman, 75, were jailed by the County Court of Victoria on Tuesday for 17 years and 14 years respectively for their attempt to import meth into Australia with a value estimated by police at between $37m and $58m. Judge George Georgiou said Caluzzi s friends and family were shocked when it emerged the relatively successful principal accountant at a Sunshine firm, who had no prior convictions, was secretly a drug trafficker.
A Toronto-based real estate investment firm has partnered with an Ottawa company to buy a prominent downtown office building in a deal worth nearly $12.5 million.
Marlin Spring said Wednesday it’s acquired a 12-storey tower at 81 Metcalfe St. from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. in a joint venture with Ottawa real estate firm Colonnade BridgePort. The 61,000-square-foot building at the corner of Metcalfe and Slater streets is home to a variety of government, health-care and professional services tenants.
The deal marks the first Ottawa acquisition for Marlin Spring, which owns more than eight million square feet of multi-residential property in Canada and the United States and is now making a push into the commercial sector.