'Sophisticated' Vic drug trafficker jailed

A Victorian man who used his cleaning company as a front to bring in tonnes of a chemical that turns into GHB worth almost $12 million has been jailed.

Saer Obian was found guilty of three counts of trafficking in a commercial quantity of a drug of dependence.

The 26-year-old faced four trials before a jury finally found him guilty of trafficking almost 17 tonnes of 1,4-butanediol in September 2019.

The industrial chemical turns into GHB once it is ingested.

"You played the primary role in a sophisticated criminal enterprise," Victorian County Court Judge Douglas Trapnell said on Friday.

"You were the instigator and directing mind in an extensive and successful trafficking operation in 1,4-BD, although I accept there is no evidence of any sales of that drug having occurred."

It was a large-scale drug trafficking enterprise and the expected financial returns were "enormous", he said.

The Coburg man used his cleaning company as a front to bring in the shipments of the chemical, but it was never on-sold.

"The potential returns were huge," Judge Trapnell said.

In sentencing, the judge considered Obian's lack of criminal history, the delay with his case and subsequent trials and his good prospects of rehabilitation.

He was jailed for 17 years and 10 months but will be eligible for parole after he serves 12 years and 10 months.

Obian has already spent more than a year-and-a-half behind bars.