Ronald Norman Ballone jailed for commercial drug trafficking

A Port Pirie man with previous links to bikies and convictions for trafficking drugs between Adelaide and Darwin has been busted by police with a carload of cannabis.

A Port Pirie man with historic bikie dealings has been jailed after being caught driving with a commercial quantity of cannabis, following previous exportation charges from Adelaide to Darwin.

Ronald Norman Ballone, 60, was pulled over by police while he was driving from Adelaide to Port Pirie in a vehicle belonging to his partner, who’s drivers licence was expired at the time.

Attending officers noted a strong smell of cannabis in the car and subsequently searched the vehicle, finding ten pounds of the drug hidden away in garbage bags.

Ballone was to be paid with one pound of weed in exchange for delivering the other ten pounds, the court heard.

Ballone has four prior previous cannabis-related charges and in December 2015 pleaded guilty to charges involving importation of methamphetamine from Darwin to Adelaide.

The Port Pirie man has a long standing history of drug offences.

Judge Gordon Barrett highlighted a 2015 sentence as being of “most concern”, with the matter involving two packages of meth sent by Ballone across the country from an Adelaide transport depot via courier.

“The packages were contained or hidden in furniture which was packed in boxes to be flown to Darwin,” Judge Barrett said.

“You flew to Darwin to collect the packages but the police detected the drugs before the delivery took place.”

The court heard Ballone was in possession of 242 grams of the substance, of which 76 per cent was pure.

Ballone was sentenced on the basis that he had become involved in ongoing drug trafficking in the Mid North of South Australia.

Previous bikie ties were also mentioned in court regarding Ballone’s 2015 charges, with Judge Barrett noting the involvement of Ballone’s son in the matter.

“You were sentenced on the basis that your son had some involvement with an outlaw motorcycle gang and he was facing some hostility from them,” Mr Barrett said.

“You decided to courier the drugs apparently on more than one occasion to avoid him being in danger.”

A home detention application for Ballone indicated that he was a regular user of cannabis and methamphetamine.

The court heard Ballone had previous criminal charges of dishonesty, cultivating cannabis and possessing a firearm without a licence.

Judge Barrett, in sentencing, decided to decline Ballone’s application for home detention bail, deeming his previous drug charges “too serious” and ordered forfeiture of the drugs.

Ballone received a sentence of two years and six months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and four months.