A Chinese-born Papua New Guinea businesswoman with ties to influential figures in the country will stand trial in Australia for her alleged role in orchestrating an audacious “black flight” plot to smuggle crystal methamphetamine across the Torres Strait.
Mei Lin, 43, was committed on Friday (March 20) to stand trial in the Queensland Supreme Court following a four-day hearing at the Brisbane Magistrates Court. Australian prosecutors allege that Ms. Lin oversaw the storage and transportation of more than 71 kilograms (about 156 pounds) of the drug, which was flown from a remote airstrip in Bulolo, Morobe Province to Australia’s far north in a twin-engine propeller plane in 2023.
Her arrest in Brisbane in early 2024 caused a stir PNG, where she had cultivated a sprawling business empire from her base in the port city of Lae. A 2024 investigation by Inside PNG and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed that her connections included the country’s former deputy prime minister, and that companies linked to her had even benefited from Australian government assistance to the country.
The looming trial comes as law enforcement grapples with a surge of illicit narcotics trafficking through the Pacific Islands. Transnational criminal syndicates are increasingly utilizing the region as a staging ground, drawn by the highly lucrative drug markets in Australia and New Zealand.
Papua New Guinea, with its vast, rugged geography, developmental challenges, and pervasive corruption, has become an attractive waypoint. Traffickers exploit the porous border to move drugs into Australia’s remote, tropical north before distributing them southward to major population centers like Sydney and Melbourne.
The advancement of Lin’s case follows the reported convictions of at least four Australians, including the crew of the illicit flight.
Papua New Guinean authorities have independently accused Lin of being a central figure in the smuggling syndicate. Eight people, including a local police officer and a soldier, have been charged in the country and are currently awaiting trial.