Four years jail for peddling meth ‘misery’

A Perth drug dealer caught smuggling a traffickable amount of methamphetamine into Albany with a street value of up to $80,000 has narrowly avoided life imprisonment.

Tere Teio, 42, was jailed for four years and 10 months in the Albany District Court last Friday after being caught by police during a 3am roadside stop on the outskirts of Albany with 81g of high-purity ice in June, 2017.

The seizure occurred only two months before drug dealers faced life imprisonment after tougher penalties were introduced in 2017.

A jury took only 30 minutes to convict Teio after he fought the charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell or supply at trial last week.

The court was told Teio was caught by police with three clipseal bags wrapped tightly in a plastic bag with electrical tape, each carrying close to 27g of ice with a purity of 74-78 per cent.

But Teio attempted to attribute the blame to his travelling mate, whom he claimed handed him the package, which he didn’t know was the drug when police stopped the car on Link Road.

State prosecutor Katherine Kemm said the State’s case was always on the basis the package of methamphetamine was Teio’s and sought that he be declared a drug trafficker.

His defence lawyer said Teio had the care of eight children from a 25-year de facto relationship but had fallen into using and offending, with methamphetamine being his “drug of choice”.

In sentencing, Judge Ronald Birmingham said Teio had a “chequered career” of criminal history and was satisfied he was trying to distribute the drugs in the community for commercial gain.

“You get no credit for blaming your mates,” he said. “There is a need to protect the community from people distributing drugs.

Judge Birmingham said methamphetamine brought “great misery” and was a contributor to a significant portion of criminal cases, and others needed to be deterred.

Teio was made eligible for parole.