‘Nothing short of a tragedy’: Eliza Averis jailed for five years for large scale drug trafficking and money laundering
A jobless Flagstaff Hill woman with no criminal history rapidly gathered $439k in mysterious wealth – but her luck turned when a cop noticed something odd in her bra.
Police & Courts
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A young jobless woman’s extraordinary financial success as a southern suburbs drug trafficker – accruing $400,000 in unexplained wealth in just 18 months – was on a sharp downturn from the moment a police officer noticed her lopsided breasts.
It all unravelled from there for Eliza Grace Averis, 25, with the extent of her offending laid bare firstly by the contents of her bra, and then by her phone and bank accounts.
Just after 1am on July 11, 2020, the Flagstaff Hill woman was pulled over by uniformed police in Reynella.
Officers ran name checks on Averis and her passenger, with intelligence alerting that both were linked to the drug trade.
One of the officers noticed that Averis’s “left breast was sitting higher than her right”.
When she was searched, police found an ice pipe and a bag of methamphetamine crystals hidden in her bra.
A later search found a second bag of methamphetamine also hidden in her bra.
In a Mimco bag in the back seat was $850 – nearly the entire amount she would get from Centrelink a fortnight in unemployment benefits – and a list of names with corresponding amounts of money next to them – a “tick list” or list of drug debts.
Names on the list included “Kiwi”, “Weird Girl” and “Guesty”.
From there, detectives took over and were able to trace conversations with various individuals to deposits of corresponding funds into Averis’s bank account.
Bank records show she was making increasing amounts of money, culminating in the acquisition of more than $128,000 in just the two months from May 7 to July 7, 2020.
But for every dollar going into Averis’s account, the same amount was going out again.
Many of the withdrawals were at pubs, hotels and sporting clubs around the southern suburbs.
Detectives found a second tick list on Averis’s phone.
In one of the message exchanges, she was selling to someone who had accessed their superannuation early to pay for the drugs.
“I don’t personally have money but it’s for my friend Ash … I’m waiting for my super to clear and can fix it up then if you’re cool with that,” one message read.
In another message, a person was purchasing drugs for a friend on home detention.
“Are you cool to come to mine and then come up to Seaford to drop it off …,” the message read.
Averis replied: “I guess”.
“Up to you mate I’m just helping you out … mate’s bracelet is why we have to (do it at) Seaford, that’s all,” the person replied.
Averis was charged with trafficking methamphetamine and, after her phone was analysed, had a further 15 trafficking charges added.
She was also charged with laundering $115,424.41 which police said was directly linked to the drug trade.
The remainder of the unexplained wealth in her account was not the subject of criminal charges, but District Court Judge Julie McIntyre said she inferred that at least some of it came from trafficking.
Averis pleaded guilty to both the trafficking and laundering charges.
Judge McIntyre said Averis’s background and methamphetamine addiction were mitigating factors but did not justify the seriousness of the offending.
“It is nothing short of a tragedy that a young woman with no prior convictions, a background that can only inspire sympathy and a demonstrated commitment to rehabilitation engaged in such serious offending because there is very little leniency the court can extend to you,” Judge McIntyre said.
“You were not a street-level offender but rather you were higher up the chain, supplying such offenders so that they could ply their trade.
“The quantity of drugs involved was not small, large quantities of cash passed through your bank account.”
Averis was sentenced to five years, two months and 12 days in prison.
Because she was charged with numerous drug offences, Averis was classified as a serious repeat offender and was given a mandatory four-fifths non-parole period of four years, two months and 12 days.
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