How Yoshe Taylor was duped into smuggling heroin into Cambodia..

[Kung-fu Hillbilly]

Australian Story's investigation into how Yoshe Taylor was duped into smuggling heroin


By Belinda Hawkins
Updated 26 August 2019

So, my stress levels soared on the morning I was due to record an interview with Yoshe Taylor when she arrived at my Melbourne home early and hungry.It was three weeks since the former primary school teacher had returned to Brisbane, having spent almost six years in a Cambodian prison for a crime she did not commit after being scammed online.

On September 19, 2014, Yoshe was stopped at Phnom Penh airport on her way home from her third trip to Cambodia.She had spent this visit going to appointments relating to what she'd believed was her new job with an arts and crafts business.Thanks to a tip-off from the Australian Federal Police, Cambodian authorities had been tracking her movements and were waiting at the airport for her to arrive.As she entered the airport an officer called out her name.

As Luke listened to the conversation, he became intrigued and after finding a photocopy of Kay's passport in Yoshe's prosecution dossier, he knew there must be a connection between the two cases and that the Australian Federal Police was involved. Luke could not let the matter rest.He booked a flight to Phnom Penh, found Yoshe in prison and confirmed she had been caught up in the same scam.

I caught up with Yoshe several weeks after her interview but this time in Esk, the small town in south-east Queensland where she had lived with her children before all this happened. She might be free of the Cambodian judicial system and prison, but she was not really free. All her savings had gone to pay the first Cambodian lawyer.

Full https://www.abc.net.au/news/about/backs ... y/11441212

[Cinnamoncat]

Precious Max is quite the con artist. This poor, naive woman. I'm so glad that some attorneys took an interest in her situation and got her released---after six long years, though. Wow.

I can see how this happens. It's horrible.

[The Seawolf]

How do you get duped into carrying 2kg of gear anyway? It doesn't explain the scam that 'duped' this poor innocent (naïve?) lady. I cant see how this happens.

[Isaanbarang]

How do you get duped into carrying 2kg of gear anyway? It doesn't explain the scam that 'duped' this poor innocent (naïve?) lady. I cant see how this happens.

You obviously have never fallen in love with a Nigerian man half your age online. It is not just old white men that have dreams of young, stunning lovers. Fortunately, we just loose our money.

[Duncan]

How do you get duped into carrying 2kg of gear anyway? It doesn't explain the scam that 'duped' this poor innocent (naïve?) lady. I cant see how this happens.

Personal experience of this happening.

Nigerian looks for a girl that would like to start a clothing stall at the market selling high quality Muslim style clothing . This involves travelling to Malaysia and bringing back suitcases of clothing so she must already have a passport and be prepared to go now cause the ticket is already booked.,,,But in reality he wants her to go before she has a chance to discuss it with anybody who might alert her to whats going on.

She get a phone call from the Nigerians female partner saying , yes it's a really successful business he sets up as hers is making lots of money and she has been able to buy a moto for her brother , bla bla bla.

Get to KL where she is picked up and taken to a place where she helps pack the clothes in a suitcase, not knowing that something has already been sewn into the lining of it.

Departing the airport.

Is this your bag,,, Yes

Do you know whats in it,,,,, Yes.

Did you pack the items in it,,,, Yes.

[MarkRobinson]

This Woman was dumb ,10\10 stupid & easy pickings for that [Mod edit: deleted racial slur].Why didn't any of her family or friends warn her of these scammers ?

[Cinnamoncat]

This Woman was dumb ,10\10 stupid & easy pickings for that [Mod edit: deleted racial slur].Why didn't any of her family or friends warn her of these scammers ?

You probably didn't study the case or watch Part 1 and Part 2 of the series, which answered questions. If you really want to know how it all played out, do some reading and viewing.

Also, in fact, Yoshe Taylor's ex-partner admitted that she had always been naive. They lived in the country, and she'd never been out of Australia.

Yoshe Taylor had worked as a pre-school teacher, and was a "creative" person. While she was (as many older guys who go to Cambodia) looking for love, once she met "Precious Max," she told him he was much too young for her, and thanks but no thanks. To her credit, when he was playing some initial scams (sell this phone for me!), she said no. Still, he invited her to Cambodia to meet him--which is when she realized he was not her cuppa. He still needed a mule, of course, so when he learned she was struggling financially, he offered her a job and produced all sorts of contracts and information about the fabric shop she would open in Australia--import/export stuff.

Precious Max (Precious is his real first name) asked Yoshe to return to Cambodia the second time, paying all her expenses and introducing her to a Western woman who also worked for him (THAT woman duped an AUSTRALIAN man into being a mule). He then asked her to transport a pack full of fabrics to the boss in Australia. When she returned to her hotel, she thoroughly searched the bag, completely missing the stitching in a center compartment--holding 2 KG of heroin.

NOTE: in the two-part video, we learn that two additional women and one man have also been arrested in Australia for being heroin mules for Precious Max. When their cases went to court, all of them were exonerated. Naive, yes. Used, yes. But innocent? yes. Entirely unaware they were carrying.

The authorities in Australia had alerted Cambodian authorities to Yoshe Taylor, and they arrested her at Pochentang. There, someone told Yoshe that other people had also been "tricked" but Precious Max, but that didn't stop them from throwing her in Cambodian jail for six years anyway.

By fluke and coincidence, a couple of solicitors were having coffee, and they started chatting about this Yoshe Taylor, whose file of information had shown photocopied passport of one of the previous women duped. "Oh, shit! she's still in prison in Cambodia!" The youngest solicitor flew RT six times to P Penh and worked hard to get her out, enlisting support from others.

This is a fascinating situation, and while it's easy to name-call and abuse this woman's naivety, there's more to the story than, "She's stupid."

Also, the three additional people served a bit of prison time in Australia, but the authorities in Australia didn't notify Cambodian authorities of their innocence--so Yoshe was going to serve out 23 years in Cambodian jail. Fortunately, she got help.

[Cinnamoncat]

How do you get duped into carrying 2kg of gear anyway? It doesn't explain the scam that 'duped' this poor innocent (naïve?) lady. I cant see how this happens.

You had to read and view to "see" how she was duped. Clearly, you didn't. It's pretty interesting. You should check it out.

[John Bingham]

Perhaps she was "duped", however I can't help thinking that if she was male nobody would have listened to her for a second and she'd still be languishing in prison for the rest of that 23 year sentence. She might have been ditsy and naive but she was old enough to know better. I feel sorry for the teenage Cambodian-French girl who was arrested with her, Ms Savarino is still serving 25 years in prison.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50602383/c ... smuggling/

[Cinnamoncat]

Perhaps she was "duped", however I can't help thinking that if she was male nobody would have listened to her for a second and she'd still be languishing in prison for the rest of that 23 year sentence. She might have been ditsy and naive but she was old enough to know better. I feel sorry for the teenage Cambodian-French girl who was arrested with her, Ms Savarino is still serving 25 years in prison.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50602383/c ... smuggling/

Again, view.

Ms. Savarino was working with "Precious Max," and knew that heroin was being delivered to Australia. Also, Ms. Savarino participated in duping an Australian man, to get him to be a mule. She was cognizant of her criminal behavior, in other words.