Cocaine catamaran trial: drug syndicate member claims he twice offered Craig Lembke $500,000 payment

The syndicate member, who is serving a jail term for his role in the importation and cannot be identified, gave evidence for a third day during Mr Lembke's trial in Newcastle District Court.

The question of when Mr Lembke first knew he would be paid $500,000 to pilot the 13-metre Skarabej is a central issue in the trial and the syndicate member said he told Mr Lembke he would be paid "half a million" during a meeting on October 4, 2017, some six weeks before the catamaran arrived at Lake Macquarie.

Public Defender Peter Krisenthal, for Mr Lembke, previously suggested to Mr Lembke's co-pilot that Mr Lembke was told about the $500,000 only after arriving at Toronto on November 14.

The syndicate member said he left Australia for Thailand on October 5, 2017, and believed his role in the drug importation plot was complete.

A person known as "Spider Wizard" was expected to unload the cocaine from the Skarabej once it docked at Pittwater in Sydney, the syndicate member claims.

But when "Spider Wizard" disappeared the head of the syndicate, a shadowy figure based in Asia known as "Black Prince", summoned the syndicate member to the Philippines and told him his involvement in the drug plot was ongoing and he needed to facilitate removing the drugs from the boat.

The syndicate member said for this his payment was increased to $3 million.

The syndicate member said he landed back in Australia on November 14, 2017, the same date the Skarabej arrived at Lake Macquarie, and was collected by another syndicate member.

The pair drove to Wahroonga to collect money.

"A car pulled up and a guy reached through the window and passed me a McDonald's bag and said "happy breakfast" or something like that," the syndicate member said.

The bag contained $90,000 in cash. The two syndicate members then drove on to Toronto where they allegedly met Mr Lembke outside a hotel. The syndicate member who has been giving evidence said he gave Mr Lembke $20,000 out of the $90,000 to split with his co-pilot for delivering the yacht.

The syndicate member claimed it was then, either outside the hotel or later in a car, that he told Mr Lembke he was going to give him an additional $500,000, on top of the other $500,000 he had already promised him.

"Was it not the case that the purpose for paying Mr Lembke that additional $500,0000 was that you were hoping he would do something further like taking drugs out of the boat?" Crown prosecutor Rob Ranken asked the syndicate member.

"I was hoping that he might volunteer to help [the other syndicate member]," the syndicate member said.

"It would have been an enticement but it would have been up to him."

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