Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
An international class-A drug smuggling conspiracy was meant to result in thousands of dollars of profit for Australian Matthew Hodder. Instead, the former stripper was arrested as he went to breakfast in Dunedin.
Hodder on Friday pleaded guilty in the High Court at Dunedin to attempting to take possession of cocaine for supply.
The 32-year-old man from Melbourne will be sentenced in February.
The cocaine, worth up to $27 million, was stashed inside an intake grate on the container ship Spirit of Auckland.
A summary of facts said US law enforcement received a tip-off that Spirit of Auckland contained "kilogram quantities of cocaine destined for Australia" in July last year.
On 2 August, local law enforcement in Philadelphia used scuba diving equipment to retrieve two large duffle bags containing 91 kilograms of cocaine.
The importation method was commonly called "parasite importation" and often occurred without the knowledge of the ship's captain or crew.
Alongside the cocaine were GPS trackers, but they had been water damaged and so law enforcement could take the cocaine without alerting the organised crime syndicate responsible.
Information on the plan was passed from American to Australian authorities, who monitored the 254-metre ship's berths in Australia.
On 6 September, Hodder went scuba diving at the Port of Melbourne in preparation for Spirit of Auckland's arrival.
Two days later he was intercepted by Australian authorities with scuba equipment.
After that Hodder and an associate, who has interim name suppression, aborted their planned retrieval of the cocaine while the ship was in Melbourne.
Instead, on 13 September, he arrived in Queenstown with the intention of travelling to Dunedin to retrieve the cocaine when the ship berthed in Port Chalmers.
At this point Hodder was unaware of the specific contents of the ship, but appreciated it was likely illegal and of significant value, the summary of facts said.
The pair hired a rental vehicle and drove to Dunedin, where they purchased $4000 of diving equipment.
Police installed a listening device in the rental vehicle while the pair were in Dunedin.
At 3.13am on 17 September, they began the drive to Port Chalmers.
On the way, the accused with name suppression complained about the high cost of petrol in New Zealand.
"It's alright mate, after tonight you're not gonna have ta worry about petrol prices. You can buy a petrol station. Put whatever prices you want," Hodder responded, according to the summary of facts.
At 6.50am, Spirit of Auckland berthed at Port Otago. Hodder entered the water wearing his scuba gear and swam to the ship.
He attempted to locate the cocaine numerous times by diving to the intake grate.
At 7.22am, he surfaced and swam to the stern of the ship.
He was seen by Port Otago staff and police officers, who had been surveilling him and his associate.
He exited the water and the pair got back into their rental vehicle and discussed being unable to locate the packages.
The other man called the overseas-based importers by cellphone to get a video of where and how the duffle bags were stashed on the ship.
The two men discussed having a second attempt at retrieving the product, but instead drove to central Dunedin to have breakfast.
"When the defendants arrived in Dunedin Central and parked their vehicle they were arrested by police," the summary of facts said.
"Both defendants had cellphones on their person, which were seized by police and subsequently analysed."
Both refused to speak to police.
Hodder had previously appeared before the court in Australia.
Court documents listed Hodder as a roofer, but he also used to perform for Magic Men Australia, a touring and for-hire male stripper company based in Melbourne.