Third Bulgarian charged over major WA drug bust pleads guilty
A third Bulgarian national charged over a 30-kilogram methamphetamine bust in WA's North West has pleaded guilty.
Sava Ivanov Kyuldzhiev, 39, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court to importing commercial quantities of border-controlled drugs.
He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in September.
Kyuldzhiev's two co-accused have already pleaded guilty to the same charge in recent weeks.
Nadezhda Nikolaeva Bratanova, 42, pleaded guilty to the offence in court last week.
Georgi Stanchev, 47, has also pleaded guilty to his role in the drug operation.
The Bulgarian trio were arrested at Dampier Port on March 12 when police officers seized 31 kilograms of methamphetamine.
Officers from the Joint Organised Crime Taskforce made the arrests.
At the time of the arrests, police said the drugs were imported to the North West of WA via a bulk cargo carrier and then brought ashore.
Police also said at the time some of the drugs had been hidden in a life vest and that the rest were being carried in bags.
Australian Federal Police Commander Greg Harrigan said at the time the police operation had targeted an "organised crime syndicate that was taking active steps to avoid detection".
"These criminals involved, they hope to slip into the country and obtain substantial profit from selling what is a misery to the community," he said in March.
"For me, the message to the drug syndicates is that we will continue to work together to disrupt you."