Dion Madden and Beau Cochrane pleaded guilty to drug and weapon charges after Magill bust
A bikie president caught after covert cameras uncovered a significant drug and weapons haul can be unmasked for the first time by his mugshot.
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A bikie president caught with a significant drug and weapons haul can be unmasked for the first time after the court released his mug shot.
Beau James Cochrane, 32, and fellow Nomad bikie Dion Jay Madden’s crimes were exposed after covert cameras and listening devices were set up by police.
Madden, 42, was due to face sentencing submissions in the District Court on Tuesday but his lawyer, Marie Shaw KC asked for an adjournment to obtain further instructions.
Judge Liesl Kudelka was less than impressed by the late notice.
“Ms Shaw, I can’t tell you how disappointed I am to receive an email from your instructor at 5.19pm yesterday,” she said.
“I come in this morning to find out that now you’re not ready.
“It is incredibly disappointing for that to occur.”
Ms Shaw said they had received statements yesterday afternoon alleging Madden had been involved in the operation since 2020.
“My client’s engagement or involvement in this offending was essentially centred around his association with the outlaw motorcycle gang which was at the beginning of 2021,” she said.
Thousands of dollars worth of heroin and meth were taken off the streets, as well as 11 firearms, five vehicles, four Harley Davidson motorcycles and a jetski after seven properties were searched in Adelaide’s north and east on April 23, 2021.
The Nomads were put under the spotlight during Operation Leo, an investigation that began in December, 2020.
15,000 telephone recordings were intercepted from a shed at a Magill address after police set up a covert camera and listening device.
Police found 720g of “very high purity” methamphetamine, valued between $112,000 and $130,000 if sold in ounces.
They also found 702g of heroin – valued between $150,000 and $175,000 if sold in ounces – and 83.5g of methamphetamine and $9600 secreted in a car used by Cochrane.
The court heard text messages between Cochrane, who was a chapter president of the Nomads at the time, and a subordinate showed the offending had been occurring for at least six months prior to his arrest.
Cochrane, of Highbury, and Madden, of Glynde, pleaded guilty to trafficking commercial amounts of heroin and methamphetamine, as well as laundering $27,200, for the benefit of a criminal organisation.
Cochrane also pleaded guilty to possessing 11 firearms without a licence, including two pistols, six rifles and three shotguns for the benefit of a criminal organisation.
David Edwardson KC, for Cochrane, previously told the court his client had been involved with a number of bikie gangs – including the New Boys, Rock Machine and Nomads.
“His life in crime, almost without question, is a direct relationship between him and his association with different organised crime groups,” he said.
Mr Edwardson told the court he had since severed ties with any groups and put that life behind him.
On Tuesday, Judge Kudelka adjourned the men’s charges until next month.
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