A County Court jury had found Sabastian Booysen, 29, guilty of importing almost a kilogram of cocaine hidden in the moon boot and he was jailed for eight years with a non-parole period of five years.

After police found the drugs in the moon boot, Booysen told them: ‘‘I’m as surprised as you are’’.

Booysen, of Balaclava, sought leave to appeal his conviction but Court of Appeal Justices Robert Redlich and Peter Almond dismissed his application on Wednesday.

Booysen had been stopped at Melbourne Airport by Customs officers on March 4, 2012, after arriving on a flight from Los Angeles.

‘‘The applicant (Booysen) was wearing a plastic leg brace (a moon boot) and when questioned was unable to provide any details as to the nature of his injury or his treating doctor,’’ the judges said.

‘‘The applicant was conveyed to hospital by Customs and Australian Federal Police officers where the brace was removed. Two packages were discovered within the brace.’’

The judges said a narcotic identification kit was used to test the powder in the packages, which revealed the presence of 777.4 grams of cocaine.

‘‘At trial, the prosecution also relied on evidence from the applicant’s computer, in particular Google searches of search terms apparently related to the transportation of drugs in casts and the evasion of security at airports, and a Skype conversation with another person apparently discussing the penalties for drug trafficking,’’ the decision read.

Booysen claimed there was insufficient evidence to prove that the packages found in the moon boot at the hospital contained cocaine and that he had intended to commit the offence.

But the appeal judges disagreed, found there had been no miscarriage of justice and dismissed the application.

During his pre-sentence hearing, Booysen’s defence lawyer claimed he had had a "tough existence" in his native South Africa before becoming an economic refugee to Australia in 2004 and later a citizen.

Booysen had hoped to become a professional soccer player and ultimately joined teams in Sydney and Melbourne and tried out with Perth Glory.