‘Just disgraceful’: AFP admits to tipping off foreign authorities in yet another drug case
Image: Yoshe Taylor (centre left) when she was arrested at Phnom Penh airport
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has admitted it tipped off Cambodian authorities in the case of a Queensland woman sentenced to 23 years for drug trafficking.
After the notorious Bali Nine case, AFP guidelines were overhauled to ensure foreign police wouldn’t be alerted if it could result in an Australian citizen facing the death penalty.
But the AFP has now admitted they played a role in the arrest of 41-year-old Queensland primary school teacher Yoshe Taylor.
Ms Taylor travelled to Phnom Penh in 2013 for what she claims was a reputable job selling Cambodian arts and crafts, but was shocked when local authorities discovered 2kg of heroin hidden in her bag.
Cambodian authorities acted on a tip from the AFP, who suspected Ms Taylor’s associate was part of an international drug syndicate.
She was sentenced to 23 years in Cambodian jail, serving more than six years before having her conviction overturned in April.
It turns out others involved in the same scam had been exonerated in Australia, a fact the AFP failed to pass on to Cambodian authorities.
Robert Myers, who acts as a lawyer for the father of Bali Nine drug smuggler Scott Rush, tells Alan Jones the case is sadly familiar.
“The behaviour in the Yoshe Taylor case is really just so disgraceful… it was really quite misleading.”
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Alan Jones says he finds the handling of both cases “completely unbelievable”.
“I’ll be raising this with the Prime Minister.”