Gentian Tonej jailed after commercial fantasy lab found at Woodville North

A man who was caught running a drug lab told the court he has since become a Muslim and is now abstinent from drugs.

A father has been hit with a mammoth jail term after a drug lab with the potential to make kilograms of fantasy was uncovered in the western suburbs.

However, Gentian Tonej, 39, told the court he has since become a Muslim and now abstains from drugs.

During sentencing, the District Court heard police searched a unit in Woodville North on October 1, 2022.

They found 5kg of the precursor GABA, 2kg of sodium nitrate, and about 1L of hydrochloric acid.

There was also a makeshift reaction vessel, heating equipment, a pH meter, digital scales, safety goggles and several facemasks.

Gentian Tonej was jailed for the commercial fantasy lab. Photo: Facebook

“Those ingredients and that equipment could produce 12kg of the fantasy variant GBL, and an even larger quantity of the variant GHB,” Judge Michael Durrant said.

Police also found a diary with instructions on how to manufacture fantasy on a large scale, which contained Tonej’s fingerprints.

Tonej’s counsel submitted his involvement extended only to the guarding of the drugs.

However, Judge Durrant said he was satisfied Tonej's premises were being used for the manufacture of fantasy and he used the ingredients and equipment to make or cook illicit drugs.

“While I do not consider you were the mastermind behind the operation, you nonetheless played a crucial and important role,” he said.

The court heard Tonej experienced homelessness and escalated his criminal offending upon the breakdown of his marriage.

Tonej was found guilty by a jury of manufacturing a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug for sale.

The court heard Tonej, a father, was born in Albania and came to Australia seeking a better life.

“As you may be deported upon the expiry of your sentence, I was told your life would be at risk as a blood-feud debt of revenge against a member of your family would fall on to you if you returned to Albania.”

The court heard Tonej had recently become a Sunni Muslim and was now abstinent from drugs and alcohol.

Judge Durrant said he was satisfied Tonej’s offending was driven by profit and he had much work to do to live a law-abiding life.

Adding on to a previous sentence, Tonej was sentenced to seven years and four months jail, with a non-parole period of four years and five months.

“Illicit drugs like fantasy are a plague and a scourge on our community. They destroy lives,” Judge Durrant said.