Woman jailed after $1.8m of air-freighted meth seized

She had earlier pleaded guilty to one count each of aiding the import of a commercial amount of drugs and attempting to possess a commercial amount of imported drugs.

The crown prosecutor said Leal Ortiz provided her name to be added to an air freight consignment in Mexico City in February 2021 that was headed to Brisbane.

The prosecutor said Leal Ortiz provided more than just a delivery address and had been in constant contact via WhatsApp with two people with codenames meaning queen and sister in Spanish.

"I hope everything goes well. My God, everything will be fine. I'll explain the rest," one of the contacts said.

"I'll be waiting," Leal Ortiz replied.

Australian Federal Police examined the consignment of wooden statues in dozens of cardboard boxes and found them to conceal wrapped satchels containing a total of 10.27kg of crystalline powder.

The powder, equivalent to 4.64kg of pure methamphetamine worth up to $1.8 million, was removed and the consignment was delivered to Leal Ortiz under police surveillance.

Leal Ortiz was on a call to her overseas contacts to explain how she could not find the drugs when police knocked on her door and yelled out they had a search warrant.

Leal Ortiz had also pleaded guilty to dealing with money that was the instrument of crime worth $100,000 or more and dealing with money at risk of becoming an instrument of crime worth $50,000 or more.

The prosecutor said Leal Ortiz had also transferred $600,000 to 70 different recipients in Colombia over almost three years.

Defence barrister Kate Juhasz said Leal Ortiz's drug offending had taken place over just six days.

"It was a low level role, akin to a courier or less," Ms Juhasz said.

"There are strong prospects of rehabilitation."

Justice Paul Freeburn said it was "plain that this is a really sad case".

Justice Freeburn said there was no evidence Leal Ortiz personally benefited and the WhatsApp messages showed she was being instructed from overseas but she had also committed serious offences carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Leal Ortiz was sentenced to six years and six months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and eight months.

As a Colombian national, Leal Ortiz was told she would likely face deportation upon release.

Leal Ortiz waved to her supporters in court as she was taken into custody.