A court has heard how a man would accept sexual favours as payment during his three-month drug trafficking business, which was uncovered during a major police operation.
Police raid a Wandal home on Friday, September 17 as part of Operation Tango Negative.
Benjamin Anton Sorensen, 39, pleaded guilty in Rockhampton Supreme Court on Friday (April 28) to a number of offences including drug trafficking, possessing a dangerous drug in excess of 2g, attempting to pervert the course of justice, possessing property obtained by trafficking, unlawful supply of a category H weapon and possessing anything used in the commission of trafficking of drugs.
The court heard Sorensen was the target of police operation Tango Negative, which uncovered his drug trafficking business through phone intercepts.
On April 4, 2021 Sorensen was driving a Ford Territory when he was pulled over on Campbell St in Wandal.
Benjamin Anton Sorensen.
Police searched the car where they found two clipseal bags of more than 22g of pure meth in 30g of substance, which were packaged in “sellable quantities” and $1600 in cash.
Between June and September 2021 Sorensen ran a “street to wholesale” level meth and MDMA trafficking business with a customer base of 20, supplying to them 29 times.
Sorensen was usually paid by customers upfront or through sexual acts, the court heard.
During a search of Sorensen’s car police found a magnetic box containing drugs.
When Sorensen was pulled over on July 24, 2021 in Berserker his Toyota Prado was searched, with officers finding a magnetic box in the bullbar.
The box contained six sandwich bags which contained a total of 54g of pure meth and police also found $12,835 in cash and other drug and weapon paraphernalia.
Days later Sorensen made and received several phone calls to get a false statutory declaration relating to the search, which claimed he had no knowledge of the box and that someone else put it there.
On September 17 that same year police raided Sorensen’s Wandal home, where they found more than 17g of pure meth and 4g of MDMA, money, a mobile phone, empty clipseal bags and other paraphernalia.
Sorensen used the proceeds from the business to purchase a food van, with plans to eventually open a food truck business.
The court heard Sorensen was born in Toowoomba and suffered from “poor mental health”.
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Justice Graeme Crow described Sorensen’s offending as “very evil” and noted the trafficking was his first serious drug offence.
“Should you think, in the future, that you can go back to drugs you will be caught, there’s no doubt about it, you will be caught and it’s simply a matter of time and then your life will be, perhaps, ruined,” he said.
Sorensen was sentenced to a total of five years imprisonment, with 588 days declared as time already served.
He was given an immediate parole eligibility.