Brandon Tyler Schulz denied home detention bail over drug lab bust in Beverley

An alleged drug dealer’s bid freedom bid has been shut down after he was allegedly linked to a major drug lab by Bunnings trips.

An alleged drug dealer will remain in custody for at least another year after he was allegedly linked to a meth lab by multiple Bunnings trips and a fake ID.

Brandon Tyler Schulz’s bid for freedom was shut down by a magistrate in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday after he said he was a “significantly worse applicant” for bail than his co-accused.

Mr Schulz’s co-accused, Giuseppe Elio Troiano, 35, was released on home detention bail last month, after prosecution requested 13-months to finalise the charges against the men.

The court previously heard police observed a large stainless steel cooking pot on top of an operating gas burner during the search of a Beverley address on September 13.

The prosecutor said the warehouse was suspected to be a clandestine laboratory undertaking extraction and purification of drugs.

Brandon Schulz was denied home detention bail on Thursday. Photo: Facebook

Giuseppe Troiano was released on home detention bail last month. Photo: Instagram

Police found 80L of acetone solution, 25 litres of 1,4-Butanediol – commonly known as fantasy – and no less than 10kg of packaged methamphetamine, the court heard.

The prosecutor said the warehouse was leased under Mr Schulz’s name, and the electricity account was under a name that matched a fake ID card allegedly in his possession.

The court heard police also identified Mr Schulz purchasing acetone from Prospect Bunnings in May.

“Both defendants, that’s Troiano and Schulz, were observed by police to attend the warehouse on at least three occasions leading up to the search,” the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said investigations were ongoing as the men’s mobile phones hadn’t been located yet.

Mr Troiano, of Ashford, and Mr Schulz, 26, of Glenelg North, are charged with manufacturing a controlled drug for sale and two counts of drug trafficking.

Mr Troiano was further charged with resisting arrest.

Serious and Organised Crime Branch officer in charge Detective Superintendent Shane Addison said methamphetamine and fantasy posed a serious risk to the community.

“Serious and Organised Crime Branch are committed to detecting and preventing methamphetamine and other illicit drugs from being sold and identifying and arresting those who are involved in the illicit drug trade, and seizing the profits of those crimes,” he said.

In a continuing bail application on Thursday, magistrate Ben Sale said he was troubled that Mr Schulz had multiple previous breaches of home detention bail, three of which involved removing the monitoring device and absconding.

He said that along with Mr Schulz’s longstanding methamphetamine addiction and the extraordinarily serious allegations, which if proven, would mean he’d be spending “years and years” in custody put him in a separate category to Mr Troiano.

“Mr Schulz is a different applicant to Mr Troiano, he’s a significantly worse applicant,” he said.

Mr Sale noted the lengthy adjournment requested but denied Mr Schulz bail, due to his risk of absconding.

The charges were adjourned until October next year.