Heinous crimes of Queensland traffickers, dealers

These are the true stories of some of the dealers and traffickers who faced court in 2023.

CONVICTION RECORDED

DRUG TRAFFICKER GETS LONG PRISON SENTENCE

A man who ran a drug trafficking operation in Mackay sold methamphetamines to 10 people who then ran their own independent trafficking businesses.

Benjamin Micheal Williams, 41, pleaded guilty in the Rockhampton Supreme Court on April 17 to one count of trafficking dangerous drugs.

Williams also pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a weapon category D/H or R, and one count each of possessing a thing used in connection with trafficking dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs, possessing a weapon category A/B or M, possessing utensils or pipes that had been used, possessing property suspected of having been used in connection with the commission of a drug offence, possessing property suspected of having been the proceeds of an offence under the drugs misuse act and possessing explosives.

Crown prosecutor Joshua Phillips said Williams trafficked dangerous drugs for eight months between March 12, 2020 and November 26, 2020 at Mackay.

The court heard Williams trafficked meth and cocaine, both of those at a wholesale level, and that he also trafficked ecstasy and marijuana, with the marijuana at a much lower level.

Chief Justice Helen Bowskill said Williams transported drugs to Mackay, or arranged for drugs to be transported to Mackay, mostly from the Gold Coast.

Chief Justice Bowskill said Williams sold meth in ounce quantities to 10 people who then ran their own independent trafficking businesses.

Mr Lynch said his client was otherwise a person of “reasonably good repute”.

“He owned a house, had a family, had tremendous support of his father, had always worked, but unfortunately became involved in drugs at a very late stage and that came to him becoming addicted and then him selling,” he said.

He said his client had “worked arduously to improve his position” and that he had “very good prospects of rehabilitation”.

Chief Justice Bowskill sentenced Williams to 9.5 years’ prison, with parole eligibility on January 24, 2024 and 873 days of pre-sentence custody was declared as time served.

The drug paraphernalia, weapons, and $20,185 were forfeited to the Crown.

FULL REPORT

MONGOLS-LINKED MAN RAN METH RING IN MUM’S NAME

A man with links to the Mongols bikie gang pleaded guilty in March to running a sophisticated meth trafficking ring using his mother’s name.

Trinidy Clifford Smith will spend the next three years in jail after pleading guilty to a string of drug related charges in the Brisbane Supreme Court, including drug trafficking, drug possession and failure to unlock his phone for police.

The court heard Smith and his “associates” hired cars and hotel rooms to move and deal methamphetamine and sometimes gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid, commonly known as GHB, to at least 15 customers, between January 11, 2020 and March 8, 2021.

He supplied drugs 40 times using six different telecommunication accounts set up under his mothers name while keeping the drugs in various storage sheds, apartments and hotel rooms, also booked under his mother’s name.

The court heard Smith regularly sold “half balls” or 1.75 grams of meth, worth about $800 each but was found in possession of five kilograms of meth on one occasion.

Crown prosecutor Gabriel Perry told the court Smith’s associates booked hotel rooms for him under their own names, and helped him collect debts.

Smith was caught by detectives from the Organised Crime Gangs Group who began surveilling him in 2020, gathering evidence for more than a year before executing multiple search warrants in January 2021.

He was represented by esteemed barrister Sarah Farnden KC, who told the court Smith’s drug addiction had led to “poor decision making.”

She said he had since engaged with a psychologist and intended to overcome his addiction.

Before handing down her sentencing, Justice Frances Williams noted Smith “answered to other people higher in the syndicate,” and at times, had spoken about being under threat himself due to racking up large debts to his own suppliers.

“You also warned others, including your mother, to be careful,” she said.

Smith was sentenced to eight years and six months’ imprisonment, with his 428 days spent in pre-sentence custody counted as time served.

He will be eligible for parole on September 13, 2026.

FULL REPORT

HOW METH DEALING MUM WAS BUSTED

Police had 24-year-old Sophie Clare Sweetland and her boyfriend on their radar, a court heard in March.

And then on the afternoon of April 18, 2022, officers executed a search warrant at the young mother’s Buchanen Street home at Boyne Island in the Gladstone region, that would turn her life upside down.

Police found a water pipe that smelt of burnt cannabis, but the court heard there was something more sinister lying in wait.

The warrant included a condition to provide access to electronic devices, but Sweetland claimed she didn’t know the passcode to her phone and resisted providing it.

Eventually when police charged Sweetland and issued her with a notice to appear in court, she provided them with the passcode.

That allowed police to examine her phone and what they found was evidence indicating Sweetland was a drug dealer.

The court heard police saw that on January 25, Sweetland told a customer that her boyfriend, allegedly, “could do a half ball if you need”.

There was then a discussion between Sweetland and the customer which led to her supplying 1.75g of methamphetamine to that person for an unknown price.

It was not heard in court whether or not Sweetland’s former boyfriend had been charged with any offences.

Police also saw that on February 8, Sweetland did things in preparation for selling a “half ball” for $750.

In the District Court at Gladstone on February 27, Sweetland, now 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying methamphetamine, possessing drug utensils, and contravening an order (in relation to her phone).

The Crown said there was a relevant entry on Sweetland’s criminal history – in August, 2020, in Gladstone Magistrates Court she was dealt with for possessing cannabis (0.2g) and MDMA (3 tablets) and she did not have a conviction recorded.

In relation to the District Court matters, the Crown said Sweetland’s meth supply offences were “commercial and business-like”.

Barrister Jordan Ahlstrand said Sweetland had disassociated with the boyfriend she was with at the time of this offending, and was receiving a Centrelink benefit as the mother of a 16-month old child.

Judge Craig Chowdhury said amphetamine was a “really nasty, dangerous drug” and “one of the worst inventions of mankind”.

He sentenced Sweetland to nine months’ jail with immediate parole.

FULL REPORT

BRISBANE DAD DEPORTED AWAY FROM CHILDREN

A Brisbane dad’s descent into drug addiction ultimately landed him behind bars and on track for deportation, a court heard.

Truck driver Timothy Kyle Waghorn, 45, pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court on March 8, 2023, to supplying a schedule 1 dangerous drug, and possessing anything used in the commission of a crime.

Crown prosecutor May Gu said police uncovered Waghorn’s offending after they raided his home in 2021 and discovered a phone he had used to arrange the drug transaction.

Ms Gu said they found messages on the phone which revealed he had arranged to exchange “some points” of methamphetamine for a phone on October 16, 2021.

The court heard Waghorn had once worked in the IT industry and had some expertise in phones, but had more recently worked as a truck driver.

He had moved to Australia from New Zealand more than 20 years ago with his now ex-wife, with whom he shared five children.

Waghorn was taken into custody in March, 2022, and his visa was cancelled in April – meaning he will be deported upon his release.

However, the court heard he intended to contest the cancellation when he was back in New Zealand so that he could return to his children.

Defence barrister Emily Lewsey said Waghorn had struggled with drug addiction issues since 2014.

The court heard he had a significant criminal history including recent convictions for possessing dangerous drugs and receiving tainted property – which were uncovered at the same time as the current supply offence.

He received a 12-month prison sentence with immediate parole for those offences.

For the supply and possession of the phone offending, Waghorn was ultimately convicted and not further punished, with 372 days in presentence custody taken into account.

FULL REPORT

TRAFFICKER BROUGHT DOWN AFTER POLICE SEIZED PHONE

A 26-year-old Toowoomba man who pleaded guilty to trafficking and supplying meth over a one month period was in February handed a three-year jail term.

However, Hayden Lewis Thomas Smith-Lavel was released on immediate parole which will hang over his head for the next three years.

The then 23-year-old had trafficked meth to at least nine customers over a one month period in May and June 2020, Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told Toowoomba Supreme Court.

The trafficking was at street level or low amounts and he had supplied customers with the drug at his home for cash or credit but he also accepted items as payment, she said.

His trafficking came to light after police pulled over the car in which he was a passenger.

During the police search of the vehicle, Smith-Lavel’s mobile phone was seized and later analysed by police which showed the drug supply messages, Ms Friedewald told the court.

Despite that incident, police had searched Smith-Lavel’s home about one month later in September 2020 and again seized the mobile phone he was using and again found three messages relating to drug supplies, she said.

Ms Friedewald said it was accepted by the Crown that Smith-Lavel was dealing in drugs to support his own drug habit.

Smith-Lavel had spent 71 days in custody after his arrest but that had been for non-related matters and that time could not be declared under this sentence, she said.

Defence barrister Adam Mason said his client had a good work record but had turned to drugs after the death of his father who he had been caring for.

The 26-year-old no longer associated with the people involved in drugs and was clean of drugs, Mr Mason said.

Justice Peter Applegarth told Smith-Lavel he had seen the inside of a jail cell and it would be up to him over the next three years whether he returned himself to prison.

Smith-Lavel was sentenced to three years in jail but released on immediate parole.

FULL REPORT

THREE YEARS JAIL AFTER ONE MONTH TRAFFICKING

A 33-year-old man who peddled methylamphetamine on the streets of Dalby for one month was in May jailed for three years.

Shane Anthony Farnham had completed an 18-month parole period without offending but just two days after that order expired he was back involved in illicit drugs, Toowoomba Supreme Court heard.

Crown prosecutor Emily Coley told the court Farnham had dealt in street level amounts of 0.1g to various users over a month between November 10, 2021, and December 9, 2021.

Farnham pleaded guilty to trafficking meth over that month as well as to supplying meth to another person on August 12, 2021, supplying cannabis on November 15, December 6 and December 8, 2021.

His barrister Jens Streit told the court his client had taken to using drugs when he had trouble explaining personal news to his family who are still supporting him.

The former Dalby State High School student has always been in employment since leaving school although he would lose his current job due to being jailed, he said.

FULL REPORT

ADDICT, 64, TURNED TRAFFICKER PICKED UP IN POLICE STING

A street level meth dealer who also tried to sell an assault rifle had 2.5 years added to his current jail term when he was busted pushing drugs in Mackay barely a year after his release on parole.

In 2019, Colin David Addis was jailed for four years for drug trafficking and was released on parole on June 30, 2020.

By January 2022 the Balnagowan man had been picked up in sweeping police raids across Mackay and the Pioneer Valley as part of major operation Tango Radar targeting rural drug crime.

Mackay Supreme Court heard Addis, 64, was trafficking meth from July 2021, just 12 months after his release from prison, until his arrest last year.

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Justice David North said in March that police had been unable to determine the extent of his customer base or the quantity he had been trafficking.

The court heard his drug sales were mainly in street level amounts and he had also offered to sell a shotgun and an SKS assault rifle.

Police raided his home on January 12 and he had been in custody since – he had served 420 days on remand.

Addis pleaded guilty to meth trafficking, supplying meth and some weapon and drug-related charges.

Tango Radar stretched between March 2021 and January 2022 and focused on alleged rural drug crime and ice trafficking predominantly in the Mackay and Pioneer Valley areas, which also extended to Cairns and South East Queensland.

Addis was jailed for 2.5 years with parole eligibility on April 30, 2023.

FULL REPORT

NO CONVICTION

MACCA’S WORKER BUSTED DEALING DRUGS

Two Gladstone 20 year olds faced court in April after they were busted dealing drugs “in tandem” while both addicted to methamphetamine.

Zyon Frahm and Kasey May White both appeared in Gladstone Magistrates Court on April 3.

Frahm pleaded guilty to one count each of supplying dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs, and possessing a drug utensil.

White pleaded guilty to six counts of supplying dangerous drugs, one count of possessing dangerous drugs, and possessing a drug utensil.

The court heard police executed a search warrant at the pair’s Gladstone residence on the morning of October 20, 2023.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Merilyn Hoskins said that during that search, police found cannabis on the lounge room table which Frahm said was his.

Police also found a bong which Frahm claimed ownership of, Sgt Hoskins said.

The court heard that police seized Frahm’s mobile phone and on that they found text messages and social media communication related to cannabis supply to an 18 year old who was sourcing the drug for his mother.

The court heard Frahm and White had no criminal histories.

Solicitor Rio Ramos represented both of them in court.

Ms Ramos said Frahm and White had been in a relationship but that was now over, and both of them had been addicted to methamphetamine at the time of their offending.

Ms Ramos said Frahm worked at Calliope McDonald’s on a permanent roster and he had lived in Gladstone for 10 years.

Acting Magistrate Mary Buchanan fined Frahm $500 and White $750.

White also had her phone forfeited to the Crown.

No convictions were recorded.

FULL REPORT

HOW ‘FAVOUR’ TO ALLEGED DRUG KINGPIN WENT WRONG

A Moranbah woman avoided a jail term for stashing a large amount of meth for an alleged Central Queensland kingpin as “a favour” that would wipe her drug debt.

Hollie-Maree Eggleston-Burton was picked up on phone taps when detectives were targeting an alleged dealer as part of Tango Gismo, a joint agency operation tracking methylamphetamine and marijuana trafficking and supply throughout the Central Highlands in 2021.

Mackay Supreme Court was told in March that the 39-year-old bought drugs off the man and when he asked her the next day to drive him somewhere to clear the debt, she agreed.

Eggleston-Burton drove him to Mackay, went into the home with him and saw money exchanged for meth.

The court heard soon after they had arrived back in Moranbah he asked for “a favour”, which involved her storing a backpack full of drugs. It was accepted she did not know of the contents, and did not look inside or ask what she was stashing.

“But you suspected it was something unlawful,” Justice David North said.

Police searched her home in November 2021 as part of sweeping raids across Central Queensland, where officers found 21.604g of pure meth in 30.25g substance in a cryovac bag in the backpack.

They also found 67g of marijuana, a smaller amount of meth in the home, and drug utensils.

Eggleston-Burton pleaded guilty to a number of charges including aggravated drug possession.

Justice North accepted Eggleston-Burton had co-operated with the administration of justice, which set her apart from other drug cases.

He added that in the particular circumstances, it was warranted he take a lenient view to assist in her rehabilitation.

Eggleston-Burton was placed on 12 months’ probation and no convictions were recorded.

FULL REPORT

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