Bikie drug mule Stephen Jacques guilty of drug trafficking – again
A man convicted after unwittingly leading police to a massive stash of drugs is again fighting for his freedom.
Police & Courts
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A Paralowie man convicted over the discovery of $7m worth of methamphetamine found buried in the Adelaide Hills – and who unwittingly sparked the discovery of another buried stash worth $90m – is again facing prison.
Stephen Joseph Jacques, 34, a low-level player in a drug syndicate closely linked to the Descendants bikie gang, has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
In his latest offending, two years ago, he was caught with 97.7g of methamphetamine, worth almost $49,000, and in possession of $155,575 in cash when Australian Federal Police raided his home.
Other items including a heat-sealing machine, heat-seal bags, gloves and scales indicative of drug distribution were also seized by detectives. District Court documents reveal Jacques has pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the drugs and some of the cash, with the prosecution summary of facts showing Federal Police raided his Paralowie home on August 8, 2018.
Detectives found 65.8g of methamphetamine and $20,000 cash hidden in an air vent in his home and a further 31.9g of methamphetamine and $132,000 in cash hidden in his two vehicles.
The documents reveal that, on August 6, Jacques was under surveillance and was followed from his Paralowie home to West Hindmarsh, where he stopped on the side of the road.
A short time later, a white van pulled up alongside him and he was seen handing the driver a white object before both vehicles left.
Surveillance operatives followed the van to Allenby Gardens Reserve and watched the driver leave the van and walk to a tree, where he was seen “digging with his hands in the soil”. Detectives later retrieved a small plastic package wrapped in paper towel from the soil.
The package was analysed and found to contain 2.7g of a crystalline substance, of which 1.9g was pure methamphetamine.
Jacques was arrested as part of a major police operation – dubbed Jarmo – that had been targeting the syndicate for the past two years. The operation has resulted in the seizure of large amounts of methamphetamines and more than $1m in cash.
Despite the success, it is suspected the syndicate has imported vast quantities of methamphetamine that has been sold in Adelaide and distributed across Australia.
Operation Jarmo has led to multiple convictions for a range of offences, including drug trafficking, money laundering, dealing with the proceeds of crime and firearms breaches.
Last month, The Advertiser revealed Ingle Farm man Allan Michael Speck, employed by the same syndicate as a “mule”, had pleaded guilty in the District Court to trafficking in a controlled drug and dealing with the proceeds of crime after detectives discovered $350,000 in cash and 72g of methamphetamines hidden in concealed compartments of two vehicles.
In 2013, Jacques and Bradley Scott Sanderson were charged over a $7m haul of methamphetamine found buried in scrubland at Inglewood, after a police patrol looking for firebugs stumbled across the pair burying the drug.
That discovery prompted police to launch a covert operation, dubbed Divulge, that resulted in the discovery of $90m worth of drugs, including methamphetamine, ecstasy and cocaine, buried in the same region. At the time, senior police said the discovery had “a significant impact” on the activities of the syndicate.
In October 2014, Jacques and Sanderson pleaded guilty in the District Court to trafficking a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug – in connection with the $7m discovery.
Jacques was sentenced to three years and one month jail with a non-parole period of 14 months. Sanderson was sentenced to two years and five months, with a non-parole period of six months because of time already spent in custody.
During sentencing submissions, his then-lawyer, David Edwardson QC, said Jacques and Sanderson had been “seduced” into the crime for money.
“They were generally mules in the sense they were paid $1000 each and they were shown or directed to the location, they were told to dig it up, they’d get the $1000 if they took it back to Mr Sanderson’s home and that the pick up would then be arranged later that day,” Mr Edwardson told Judge David Lovell.
In sentencing Jacques in January 2015, Judge Lovell said the jail term would have been greater if not for his guilty plea.
“In my view, you are a good candidate for rehabilitation,” Judge Lovell said.
Jacques will face sentencing submissions in connection with his latest offending later this month.
