Mormon Drug Runner
December 8, 2005
THE brother of a Victorian policeman allegedly posed as a police officer when he was caught with seven kilograms of cocaine hidden in a suitcase at an Italian airport.
Brisbane man Fuc Iang Lay, 30, known as Kevin Lay, was arrested at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport on August 15.
The ABC's AM program reported yesterday that senior Victorian police had told the man's brother, a Victoria Police member, they did not want the case publicised.
A September report in Rome daily La Repubblica said Lay had "posed as a policeman in the hope of avoiding prosecution".
The newspaper reported that the drugs had a street value of €5 million ($A7.8 million).
Lay, who faces 20 years in prison if convicted, had arrived from Caracas, Venezuela, and was in transit to Istanbul, Turkey.
Lay, who became a Mormon eight years ago, has written to his family declaring his innocence and urging them to lobby churches and other groups to fund his legal case. Australian representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not return calls yesterday.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Government would offer consular assistance.