Robert Gordon Pollybank Gee pleads guilty to 2006 drug offences after a decade on the run

After a decade on the run, an alleged drug mastermind has pleaded guilty to a number of drug offences just as he was due to stand trial, a court has heard.

A man who fled Australia a decade ago, just before he was due to face trial on multiple drug charges has entered guilty pleas – 16 years after the offences occurred.

Robert Gordon Pollybank Gee, 63, appeared in the District Court on Monday where he was due to stand trial, but instead pleaded guilty to nine drugs charges including taking part in the sale of cocaine, cannabis and methylamphetamine.

The offences date back to 2006 when Operation Crunch detectives investigating a national drug syndicate based out of Adelaide raided properties in Elizabeth South and Plympton and seized guns, 8300 LSD tablets, 8kg of cannabis, more than 7kg of methamphetamine and 6200 ecstasy tablets.

About $260,000 was also found hidden in a garden at one of the properties.

Robert Gordon Pollybank Gee.

Gee, who was once one of Australia’s most wanted fugitives, was alleged to be the mastermind behind the haul and was due to stand trial on multiple offences in 2011.

Instead, he went on the run during a trip overseas which had been allowed under his bail conditions.

He disappeared in Thailand but was arrested by Thai police at a bar on the resort island of Phuket in September 2016 in possession of a fake Canadian passport in the name of Roy Greyeyes.

He was convicted of the offence and jailed.

In December 2020 he was brought back to Australia to face court over the 2006 offences.

On Monday, David Edwardson, QC, for Gee, told the court he was seeking expert medical reports, including a psychological report into trauma associated with his time in a Thai jail.

Gee will return to court in June.