Southern suburbs drug dealer Jeremy Pope jailed for ‘highly lucrative criminal enterprise’

A southern suburbs drug dealer who was caught amid a police sting into a series of suspected murders has been jailed for his “highly lucrative” offending.

Jeremy Pope being led from his Seacombe Gardens home. Picture: 7NEWS

A drug dealer caught selling large amounts of cannabis, meth, LSD and MDMA from his southern suburbs home amid a police sting investigating suspected murders has been jailed for his “highly lucrative criminal enterprise”.

Police raided the Seacombe Gardens home of Jeremy Pope, 48, in 2021 and 2022 after listening devices had been installed in the home of another southern suburbs man by police investigating the suspected murders of Jeff Mundy, Robert Atkins and Trevor King.

There is no suggestion Pope was involved in the deaths of any of the men.

The first police raid netted 2.6kg of cannabis, 51g of methamphetamine and 102 MDMA tablets, while raids in 2022 – while Pope was on bail after the first set of offences – uncovered a further 692g of methamphetamine, 341 MDMA tablets, 89 LSD tickets and $46,610 cash.

Kilograms of cannabis were found at Jeremy Pope’s Seacombe Gardens home. Picture: District Court

Police seized drugs and cash during raids at Jeremy Pope’s Seacombe Gardens home. Picture: District Court

In sentencing, District Court Judge Ian Press said the amount and number of drugs netted – at a time where 1g of meth was worth up to $600 – indicated Pope was running a “highly lucrative criminal enterprise”.

“Your offending involved, and was intended to introduce, significant quantities of methamphetamine into the community and it resulted in other criminal entities making substantial amounts of profit,” he said.

Pope had earlier pleaded guilty to multiple drug trafficking charges, including two counts of trafficking in a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug and money laundering.

Judge Press outlined Pope’s personal history, including a marriage breakdown, redundancy and painful back condition. He said Pope was an addict using $3500 worth of meth per week.

“Your motive for this offending was to obtain money to pay for significant amounts of drugs and to cover your rent and household expenses,” Judge Press said.

MDMA pills were seized during the police raids at Jeremy Pope’s home. Picture: District Court

Court released images of cannabis seized during the raids. Picture: District Court

He said the social evils of drugs – particularly methamphetamine – were highlighted in courts every day.

“It is the misery that it introduces into the lives of the users or the offences committed by those who want to fund their addiction, or the offences committed by those who want the financial gains – it is a drug which continues to cause immeasurable harm to the community,” he said.

Pope was sentenced alongside a second man who “brokered” the sale of almost 7kg of cannabis for almost $40,000 for a third man to then on sell for a profit in the Northern Territory. The second man, who cannot be named, had pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in a large commercial quantity of cannabis.

Some of the drugs and cash seized during a raid of Jeremy Pope’s southern suburbs home. Picture: District Court

Judge Press said the third man was stopped by police with the cannabis in August 2021. He has since been charged and pleaded guilty over the haul and will be sentenced later.

Judge Press jailed the second man for three years and 10 months, with a non-parole period of two years and three months.

After accounting for his pleas of guilty and personal circumstances, Judge Press declined to declare Pope a serious repeat offender and imposed a head sentence of eight years. He set a non-parole period of four years and 11 months.