A Cringila woman has admitted to having a large amount of liquid ecstasy delivered to her home after she purchased it online from a Netherlands business.
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Mother-of-three Ashleigh Kate Mawson fronted Wollongong Local Court on Thursday where she was due to be sentenced for the Commonwealth charge of importing a border controlled drug with no commercial intent.
However, her Aboriginal Legal Services lawyer Tim McKenzie asked for an adjournment to see if Mawson was eligible to undertake the MERIT program for drug rehabilitation.
An agreed set of facts said Mawson, 33, was a long-term recreational drug user and started taking gamma-Butyrolactone about six months before her arrest in September last year.
Police said Mawson discovered she could buy the drug online from international sources after it became "cumbersome" for her to purchase GBL from local suppliers.
Mawson, who works as a chef at a Helensburgh aged care facility, purchased 500ml and 250ml bottles of GBL from business, Trade Chemicals Europe BV's website in the Netherlands.
She paid $A161 for the drugs using a PayPal account.
The clear liquid was described and packaged as 'multi-gel remover'.
On August 30, a package consigned to Mawson was received and X-rayed by Australian Border Force officials at the International Mail Centre in Sydney.
The package was examined further due to inconsistencies in the image and the high-risk origin.
The parcel was opened and contained two white plastic bottles, one 500ml and one 250ml of clear liquid.
The liquid was tested and returned a positive result for GBL, which is classified as a border controlled drug.
The items were seized and given to police.
On September 29, a package containing an inert substance was delivered to Mawson's home during a police operation.
South East Region Enforcement Squad officers executed a search warrant at Mawson's home later that day.
Mawson was arrested and taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station.
During a conversation with investigators, Mawson made full admissions to purchasing the drug from the Netherlands using her PayPal account.
She told them she was not aware it was illegal to import the drug as it could readily be purchased online and delivered to Australia.
Mawson also stated the entire amount she purchased was for her own use and she had no intention of supplying it to anyone else.
Investigators explained that due to the amount purchased it was deemed supply.
Police acknowledged Mawson was "remorseful" for her actions and was "somewhat naive".
Mawson was initially charged with importing a marketable quantity of a controlled drug and supplying an indictable to commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
Those charges were withdrawn by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in court on Thursday.
If Mawson, who is on bail, is eligible for the MERIT program, she will be sentenced in July but if not she will be sentenced when the case returns to Wollongong Local Court on April 22.
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