A Kiwi caught trying to smuggle more than 800kg of cocaine into Australia faces a decades-long stint in jail.

Tamaohungia Joseph Tepatu-Edwards pleaded guilty to attempting to transport a controlled substance and was sentenced to 26 years in jail with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years when he appeared in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on Friday, ABC reported.

The 31-year-old, who moved to Australia as a baby, was also told by Justice Amanda Forrester that it was “highly likely” he’d be deported to New Zealand once he was released.

The court heard Tepatu-Edwards was caught in 2023 helping others take a boat to collect a drug drop from bulk carrier ST Pinot as part of an alleged drug syndicate, ABC reported.

The cocaine was wrapped in blue plastic with strobe lights attached to it and hidden on the bulk carrier.

But on the way to collect the drugs, the boat Tepatu-Edwards was on experienced engine trouble near Rottnest Island, 19km west of Perth, ABC reported.

Tamaohungia Tepatu-Edwards was caught after his boat broke down while attempting to collect the cocaine (pictured). Photo / Australian Federal Police

Tepatu-Edwards had communicated with other alleged members of the syndicate through group chats on encrypted messaging app Signal, and Facebook Messenger, the court heard.

Messages read out in court showed Tepatu-Edwards had helped others buy the boat, named “No Fixed Address”, and other items including flashlights to signal the boat to drop the package for collection, and machetes to cut ropes, ABC reported.

There was no justification for his client’s involvement in the “serious and calculated crime”, Tepatu-Edwards’ lawyer Dave Robinson told the court.

The massive drug importation bust involved multiple agencies. Photo / Australian Federal Police

He also spoke about Tepatu-Edwards’ drug use issues and family circumstances, and concerns about deportation under the 501 law, ABC reported.

While a citizen of New Zealand, he had no connection to the country having emigrated to Australia with his parents as a baby, Robinson said.

New Zealand-born Tamaohungia Tepatu-Edwards understood the drugs he was collecting were substantial, the justice sentencing him in the Supreme Court of Western Australia said on Friday. Photo / Australian Federal Police

Justice Forrester said Tepatu-Edwards was “low in the chain” of the organised crime, but he was also a “vital and trusted cog” in the drug syndicate – and he had made a choice.

He hadn’t said how much he was being paid, but she’d concluded his only reason for committing the crime was for financial gain, ABC reported.

“You had a good understanding the drugs you were collecting was substantial.”