Eddie Kadan drove $17.5m of meth across NSW to make quick money, court told

Crippling gambling debts and drug addiction led a NSW man to drive $17.5m of meth across the state to a handover with an SA truck driver.

Eddie Kadan was in the midst of a drug and gambling addiction when he decided to try to make a quick buck – couriering $17.5m worth of methamphetamine across New South Wales, a court has heard.

Kadan transferred 10kg of the drug to truck driver John Stephen Stevenson in May last year at the Goulburn Showgrounds, fromwhere it was then taken towards South Australia.

Stevenson was caught at the Yamba border crossing where the drugs were seized and he was arrested.

On June 8, 2021, Kadan was arrested in Sydney as part of Operation Ironside and extradited to SA charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug.

He pleaded guilty to the charge in the Adelaide Magistrates Court and on Friday appeared in the District Court for sentencing submissions.

Neither Stevens nor Kadan were extensive users of the encrypted AN0M phones that would bring down the syndicate.

Rather, the court heard the men had been lent their phones by more senior members of the group to organise the hand-off.

Social media photos of Eddie Kadan who transported $17.5m worth of methamphetamine to a waiting truck to be delivered into South Australia. Picture: Facebook.

Peter Hill, for Kadan, said his client’s role in a larger syndicate charged over the importation was limited.

“He got in over his head and for that he is going to pay a significant price,” Mr Hill said.

Judge Jane Schammer heard Kadan had a gambling addiction and was using drugs when he generated debts and needed to make “quick money”.

A prosecutor told the court general deterrence needed to play an important role in sentencing.

“The fundamental aspect of this man’s offending, as with (Stevenson), is couriering drugs,” she said.

“They are fundamental links in the chain of these larger criminal syndicates to move these drugs around and on-sell them.

“That is the gravity of this offending and the case law says that for people who act in this way they should expect large custodial sentences.”

Social media photos of Eddie Kadan who transported $17.5m worth of methamphetamine to a waiting truck to be delivered into South Australia. Picture: Facebook.

Stevenson was sentenced to four and a half years in prison with a non-parole period of two years for the trafficking.

The sentence was light compared with sentencings for similar trafficking offences in part because of Stevenson’s very early guilty plea, which saved a lengthy trial.

From the current progression of Operation Ironside matters through the court, it is likely Stevenson will be eligible for bail before the trial of other accused begins.

Mr Hill asked Judge Schammer to impose a similar sentence on her client, who has been in custody since his arrest.

Kadan will be sentenced later this month.