Mark Pollard pleads guilty to burglary and trafficking after massive Breakwater drug haul

A Geelong dad found with 80kg of a party drug has been jailed for his involvement in “serious drug trafficking”, after his lawyer told the court he was just holding onto the drugs for someone else.

Geelong Law Courts. Picture: Alan Barber

A Geelong dad found with 80kg of a party drug has been jailed for his involvement in “serious drug trafficking”, after his lawyer told the court he was just holding onto the drugs for someone else.

Mark Pollard, 33, pleaded guilty to a number of offences, including trafficking a commercial quantity of 1,4 butanediol and burglary.

Judge Micheal O’Connell on Friday sentenced Pollard to four years and nine months behind bars, with a non-parole period of two years and nine months.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge O’Connell outlined Pollard’s circumstances that led him to being busted with just under 80kg of party drug 1,4 butanediol in 2022.

1,4 butanediol is an industrial solvent popular for use as a substitute for GHB.

Judge O’Connell told the court Pollard was exposed to “an array of drugs, violence and crime” in his formative years while in his mother’s care.

He developed a drug addiction which impacted his schooling, and first appeared before the court at the age of 19.

Pollard has been in and out of jail, receiving at least seven prison sentences since 2012.

“Since you were 21 or so, you’ve spent a large portion of your life behind bars,” Judge O’Connell told Pollard.

Pollard had “very little experience of treatment” but took meaningful steps “for the first time in (his) life” during a brief stint out on bail.

The court heard that although he pleaded guilty to the trafficking charge on the second day of his trial, Judge O’Connell accepted it was an early plea – as he had offered to plead on that charge at a much earlier point.

Pollard had a “substantial criminal history” but no history of drug trafficking, with his record more akin to that of an addict.

There was also no evidence of any sales or the “business” side of trafficking, Judge O’Connell found, but nonetheless, the quantity alone made it a serious example of trafficking – it was four times the threshold for a “large” commercial quantity.

It was noted 1,4 butanediol is less profitable than other drugs such as ice or cocaine.

Pollard’s lawyer had put that he was storing the drugs on behalf of someone else, but Judge O’Connell said that remained “just an assertion from the bar table”.

“The mere possession of such a large quantity is indicative of your involvement in serious drug trafficking,” Judge O’Connell said.

Pollard has already spent 579 days behind bars.

EARLIER: Trafficker busted with 80kg of party drug after Breakwater raid

A Geelong drug trafficker was busted with almost 80kg of a popular party drug and thousands of rounds of ammunition after police raided a Breakwater storage facility.

Mark Pollard, 33, appeared in Geelong County Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to seven charges, including trafficking a commercial quantity of 1,4 butanediol, burglary, theft, drug possession, unlicensed driving, failing to stop on police request and possessing a firearm article (ammunition) as a prohibited person.

According to the prosecution summary released by the court, officers raided a storage facility in Breakwater on July 29, 2022, where Pollard had rented a unit under a false name.

Inside were four boxes found to contain approximately 79.3kg of 1,4 butanediol, about 40 times the 2kg threshold for a commercial quantity of the drug.

The drug, also known as bute, is an industrial solvent that mirrors GHB and has become a popular party drug.

However, the prosecution conceded that while Pollard knew the amount was “not less than a commercial quantity” it could not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew the total amount of drugs stored in the unit, nor that it was a “large commercial quantity”. 

Police also found more than 2000 rounds of live ammunition and 3500 air pistol pellets at the storage unit.

Several weeks earlier, on July 3, Pollard had burgled a Highton home with another man, stealing an ammunition safe containing more than 3000 rounds and the air pistol pellets.

Pollard was arrested on July 29 and taken to Geelong police station, where he was placed into a holding cell with two covert operatives after his interview was suspended.

There Pollard revealed he had been arrested for an alleged “gun burg” but that he had “juice” – meaning GHB or bute – which he thought “they’ll find”.

Several days later police raided the home of Pollard’s father, where Pollard had been living, and found six vials of testosterone.

The plea hearing comes days after Pollard was set to face trial on a largely separate set of charges, including three counts of attempting trafficking of a large commercial quantity of bute and three charges of trafficking in a commercial quantity.

A jury had been empanelled on Thursday to hear the allegations but the matter resolved overnight.

Prosecutors had alleged that in June and July 2022, Pollard had attempted to import 50L of bute seized at Melbourne Airport, along with 25L seized at Sydney Airport.

It was also alleged Pollard possessed and trafficked ice, stole a car and multiple guns in Newcomb on July 11, 2022 and a car at Leopold on July 29, 2022.

However, the trial was discontinued on Friday before the opening addresses, and the jury discharged, after Pollard pleaded guilty to a single trafficking charge, which was carried over to the plea hearing indictment.

He was found not guilty of the 14 other charges in that trial brief, after prosecutor Fraser Cameron proposed not to lead any evidence.

Pollard will be sentenced on October 11. 

Originally published as Mark Pollard pleads guilty to burglary and trafficking after massive Breakwater drug haul