Simon Tu: Drug runner jailed after hitting police car

Australian police have made a number of major drug seizures in recent years

A 28-year-old drug courier has been jailed in Australia after colliding with two parked police cars in a van filled with methamphetamines.

Simon Tu had 260kg (570lbs) of the drug in the van when he swerved across the road and hit the vehicles in July 2019.

Officers tracked down the van and pulled Tu over, discovering a haul worth up to $130 million Australian dollars (£74m; $95m).

He has now been sentenced to six and a half years behind bars.

At the time of the arrest Detective Inspector Glen Baker told reporters it was "one of the easiest drugs busts that New South Wales Police has ever made".

Last year, Tu hit the unoccupied police cars, which were parked outside Eastwood police station in Sydney, causing serious damage to one of the patrol vehicles. He drove off without stopping, but the incident was captured on CCTV and witnesses described his van to police.

About an hour later officers pulled over Tu. He told them he had been delivering food, but his refusal to meet their eyes and his fidgeting prompted a search - revealing 13 boxes filled with kilos of methamphetamine, also known as ice.

Tu was heavily in debt at the time and was consuming alcohol and cocaine daily, the Downing Centre District Court heard. He has reportedly described his time in jail since the arrest as a wake up call.

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Judge Penny Hock handed down his sentence on Friday.

"It was the offender's own incompetent or shambolic - on his barrister's own submission - driving that brought him to the attention of police," she said.

Judge Hock said the arrest was "most unfortunate for the offender but was of great benefit to the community".

Tu will be eligible for parole in July 2023.

While methamphetamine use has declined in Australia in recent years, the government says damage caused by the drug is increasing.