Troy Alviti, Mark Middleton and Nicholas Wardle jailed over their role in Croydon meth lab, SA’s largest
Three men who ran an enormous meth lab in Croydon capable of producing hundreds of kilos of the drug have been jailed - one will get out in just over three years.
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Three men who ran the state’s largest meth lab have been sentenced with one eligible for parole in just over three years.
Troy Alviti, 47, Mark Middleton, 58, and Nicholas Wardle, 39, were arrested for their roles in maintaining the lab on Scotia St in Croydon.
The lab was capable of cooking multiple batches of up to 17kg of methamphetamine at a time.
It took police six days to dismantle the lab hidden in a shed in the rear of the residential property.
The amount of chemicals found at the scene were capable of producing 127kg of methamphetamine with a wholesale value in excess of $20 million.
Middleton was arrested on October 28, 2018 when police were raiding the property.
He was caught arriving at the house with a batch of precursor chemicals.
Alviti, who owned the house, was also arrested when he arrived home.
Police originally alleged that Wardle had arrived on a motorbike, seen police raiding the house and drove off.
He was not arrested until January the following year in New South Wales.
During sentencing submissions Judge Jack Costello ruled that he could not conclude that Wardle had been on the motorbike when it arrived at the property.
In sentencing the trio Judge Costello said methamphetamine was a “scourge” on society and the lab had been run by all three of the men together.
Alviti was sentenced to 10 years, 10 months and six days in prison for his role in running the meth lab and for breaching a previous suspended sentence for firearms offences.
He was given a non-parole period of six years and 10 months in prison.
Middleton, who served seven years in prison in NSW for armed robbery, came to Adelaide to work in the lab to save money to save his cousin’s hotel from bankruptcy.
Judge Costello said that Middleton’s motives for working at the lab did not excuse the offending.
“There is nothing particularly noble about committing an offence which has the potential to cause people harm because of a perceived obligation to your cousin,” he said.
Middleton was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison with a non-parole period of eight years, four months and three weeks.
Judge Costello said he would take a lenient approach when sentencing Wardle because of his family history and mental health issues.
He was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison with a non-parole period of four years and six months.
