Alleged plan to import meth from US by 'Superdick' outlined by accused co-conspirator

A woman claims she, a second woman and a drug dealer nicknamed ‘Superdick’ were sitting around the backyard of her Canberra home when he raised his plan to import meth from overseas through the postal service.

Gerardo Penna, whose ACT Supreme Court trial began last week, has pleaded not guilty to trying to import 750 grams of methamphetamine from the US into Australia.

Jurors heard the Australian Border Force detected abnormalities in a consignment that arrived in Sydney, and its powdered mixture of meth and aluminium was replaced with an inert substance before police delivered it to the first woman’s home on 17 November 2021.

This woman testified on Monday (24 March), telling jurors that at the time, she had been a drug addict who allegedly bought drugs off Mr Penna.

When she first reached out to him about six months before the package was delivered, she said she had searched for his name on Google and found his listing as a real estate agent, so called the associated phone number.

She claimed they went on to speak on an encrypted app called Session, where Mr Penna’s nickname was “Superdick”.

The first woman alleged that in mid-2021, Mr Penna went over to her home and spoke with her and the second woman about importing meth.

She alleged Mr Penna was going to finance and order the drugs, while the second woman’s role was to put his money into a bank account, transfer it into the cryptocurrency Bitcoin and then send it to him so he could make the purchase.

She alleged her role was to receive the package at her home, then Mr Penna would collect it and “do what he needed to do with it”. In exchange for her involvement, she would be given “free drugs”.

“He said he’d done it before and it had worked, and he was going to order it from the dark web,” she claimed.

During an intercepted phone call on 15 November 2021, Mr Penna allegedly told her, “F-k I hope this week we have some good news”.

“Oh f-k, so do I,” the first woman replied.

She told jurors that conversation related to the meth-filled consignment that was to be delivered to her home.

When it arrived on 17 November 2021, the first woman said she put it in her garage and called Mr Penna to let him know it was there.

“You need to come see me. I’ll text you through Session,” she allegedly told him in an intercepted phone call.

At the time, a male friend and colleague of the first woman had been having his mail sent to her home as he had moved from Canberra.

She claimed Mr Penna had seen some of this man’s mail, then he said they needed to use a different name on the package of drugs instead of someone who lived at her home.

When the package from the US arrived, the first woman said it was addressed to this man, but his name was spelled incorrectly.

“Gerardo had organised for this box to come,” she alleged.

“I was involved in this crime. Gerardo was involved in this crime.”

She said she opened the package, saw it contained two bags of a grey powder marked ‘Metal Powders USA’, then she put the bags inside in her car.

In cross-examination from defence barrister Beth Morrisroe, the first woman said she had been using the drug ‘ice’ on a daily basis at the time, possibly smoking it more than 20 times a day.

Mr Penna has pleaded not guilty to his charge of agreeing to attempt to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, for which he faces trial.

He has separately pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking a controlled drug, for which he will be sentenced in the future.

The trial continues before Justice David Mossop.