SA Ironside drug runner Michael Gibbons locked up for $85k meth deal in Bunnings carpark

A drug courier arrested as part of Operation Ironside was caught red-handed with close to 1kg of methamphetamine in an SA Bunnings carpark.

A drug runner arrested as part of Operation Ironside was caught with close to 1kg of methamphetamine in a Bunnings carpark.

Michael Brian Gibbins, 36, was jailed for five years after he was caught red-handed in the drug deal worth $85,000.

During sentencing, the District Court heard Federal Police were monitoring drug syndicate messages on May 17, 2021 which revealed Gibbins was planning to supply methamphetamine.

SA police were tipped off to the handover of drugs in the carpark at Bunnings in Mile End.

Police and PolAir followed Gibbins’ car as it drove out of the carpark.

He sped off but eventually stopped in the carpark of the RSL Nursing Home at Myrtle Bank before running away and dropping a brown paper bag.

Michael Gibbins pleaded guilty to drug trafficking. Picture: Facebook

The bag he dropped was found to contain 993g of a substance, containing 680g of pure methamphetamine.

The drugs had cost the syndicate $85,000.

Gibbins, of Hallett Cove, pleaded guilty to commercial drug trafficking.

His arrest was part of Operation Ironside – a comprehensive investigation that saw police arrest dozens of people on June 7, 2021, through data obtained by the encrypted app AN0M.

The court heard Gibbins told police in an interview he had a significant drug debt and was expecting to get a bit over $5000 deducted for his role.

“You told the police that you did not know specifically what was in the box, but you said you knew it was not, and I quote, ‘teddy bears’,” Judge Emily Telfer said.

Gibbins declined to name the people he was working on behalf of.

However, it was accepted that while Gibbins was in possession of an AN0M device at the time of his offending he was not involved in the broader criminal syndicate on an ongoing basis.

The court heard Gibbins’ gambling and methamphetamine addiction meant he was not able to work and began buying drugs on credit.

Gibbins was sentenced to five years’ jail, with a non-parole period of three years and 11 months.

“People who choose to participate in the trade of illicit drugs cause harm to the public, both the people who use the drugs and innocent members of the public who are victims of crime and anti-social behaviour which is associated with drug use,” Judge Telfer said.

“People who act as couriers on behalf of more senior members of high-level drug syndicates are an important link to maintaining the effective systems of distribution.”

The sentence was backdated to May 28.