SA Police worker Eamon Dahlgren lived a double life as a cocaine dealer – shattering his dream of becoming a lawyer

Eamon Dahlgren worked for SA Police during the day and sold cocaine at night to fund his “hedonistic” lifestyle – until he stumbled into his employer’s undercover sting.

An SA Police employee turned to selling cocaine across Adelaide because he was not getting paid enough to live out of home but soon created a “hedonistic” lifestyle for himself, a court has heard.

Eamon Dahlgren, 25, pleaded guilty to 14 counts of drug trafficking and one charge of supplying cocaine to a person over the 36 days between September 9, 2022 and October 14, 2022 when he was arrested.

Dahlgren was working as a civilian employee in the police expiation branch and earning between $56,000 and $61,000 a year as a law graduate.

Last week, District Court Judge Heath Barklay heard that police anti-corruption branch detectives had launched an investigation codenamed Operation Kilo after receiving information Dahlgren was selling drugs.

A hidden camera and microphone was installed in Dahlgren’s car and an undercover operative began doing controlled buys of cocaine.

SA Police administration officer Eamon Dahlgren has been charged with 16 counts of drug trafficking. Picture: Facebook

Eamon Dahlgren’s lawyer said he had made “a monumentally huge mistake” and hoped for the mercy of a suspended or home detention sentence. Picture: Facebook

A prosecutor told the court Dahlgren was using the funds from his dealing to fund “indulgent and hedonistic lifestyle”.

“The offending wasn’t isolated, it was routine,” she said.

“The defendant drove around town, again primarily up north, in his black BMW and he sold drugs to others users within his circles.”

Videos from both the surveillance devices and Dahlgren’s social media showed him wearing designer clothing, “blatantly using drugs and drinking” and talking about frequenting nightclubs like Atlantis and Red Square.

One video captured Dahlgren selling cocaine out the window of his car while a family member was in the passenger seat.

She said “I wish you would stop doing that” and he replied he was only doing it because he was not paid enough to live out of home.

Dahlgren openly joked about drug use on social media, the court heard. Picture: Facebook

A social media post showed Dahlgren with a “work setup in the background” pulling a plastic bag out of his pants and writing “put the wrong jeans on for work and found this in my back pocket from the weekend – hope there is nothing else in there”.

Craig Caldicott, for Dahlgren, said his client had shattered any ambitions of a career in law through his offending.

The court heard Dahlgren had completed a combined law and commerce degree at the University of South Australia after graduating from Trinity College.

“It was the worst day of his life,” Mr Caldicott said.

“He was arrested, lost his job, had to explain to people what happened.

“He has made a monumentally huge mistake. If he is given one chance he will return it in spades to the community.”

Mr Caldicott asked for Dahlgren to be given a suspended sentence or be allowed to serve any sentence on home detention.

He said Dahlgren’s offending was in part to fuel his own cocaine addiction in which he was using up to 2g of the drug a day.

Judge Barklay will sentence Dahlgren later this month.