Sydney drug dealer who turned police informant speaks out

A former major player in Sydney’s drug trade - “Mr Between” - reveals the process of a drug shipment, from the moment it lands in Sydney until it hits the street.

Paullie has been around the drug trade in Sydney for 40 years, working both sides of the law.

Now in his 70s, he’s been a cocaine dealer and a police informant.

Paullie spent years in prison for commercial supply which he claims was in fact part of an operation he was setting up for a law enforcement body which turned on him.

Today he still knows a lot of the major players in Sydney and is referred to as a “Mr Between’’ - a player who has police and underworld sources.

Paullie, now in his 70s, has worked both sides of the law as a cocaine dealer and police informant.

Senior police have verified “Paullie’’ as being a person known to them for decades with connections all over Sydney.

For Powderkeg, Paullie talked through a drug shipment from the moment it lands in Sydney until it hits the streets, ending up as a “baggie’’ bought by the city’s growing army of cocaine users.

“The big shipments get delivered to Port Botany from different routes all over the world, with it originating from South America,’’ he said.

“Often in kilos, referred to as Kegs or bricks shipments have ‘stamps’ on them which are logos. They vary sometimes such as a flower, maybe a cockatoo, a picture of other creatures and so on … it’s a symbol that they use to identify the owner, the receiver.”

Paullie said the concealed shipment, once successfully through, the docks is picked up by collectors on a no-questions-asked basis and delivered to a local warehouse.

Then begins the process in which the cocaine get’s “jumped on” - that’s street talk for cutting the pure-grade imported cocaine with other substances to increase the volume.

It is “jumped on” from dealer to dealer as it goes from one-kilo bricks to tiny bags.

He also said when its picked up from the warehouse its often tested.

“The crew is going to check (the gear). They have a lot of methods that are used and each are different. What they do is without damaging the parcels they just put in an instrument which show the qualities, the percentage of purity and then it gets distributed again to a buyer who maybe takes it to their own safe house.’’

Seven men have been charged over cocaine supply and distribution in the Byron area.

He said the stamp is also a marketing tool which identifies the distributor and can be used as a guideline of quality.

“There is a promise and an agreement which is made clear, crystal clear to the supplier as to how many times they can jump on it be it once, twice, three times or whatever,” Paullie said.

Paullie said Sydney’s underworld was divided by geographical boundary.

There is a tacit agreement between the cartels, bikie gangs and even individual major distributors about territory and bloodshed is the cost of breaking it.

“Well, goodbye. Yes, then definitely it will happen,” he said, referring to people being murdered for crossing over into someone else’s territory.

“They get to keep their honour and if they really disobey the honour they are gone, they’re definitely gone,’’ he said adding that sometimes groups will join forces when it comes killing someone.

“There are three or so crews that occupy the entire eastern suburbs. Then the south-west a few different groups,” he said.

“So the eastern suburbs, I believe, would be mainly bikie controlled.

Powderkeg is a groundbreaking investigation into the nation’s cocaine fixation.

“The Armenians are controlling parts of the north side from Willoughby to Roseville and have for years.

“The south west of Sydney, the Maltese are strong. And southern Sydney, mainly the Lebanese but they also have some large parts of the south-west.’’

Paullie believes there are 10 or 12 individuals who are the “Mr Big’’ distributors who then give to their own downstream suppliers

Others in the underworld said the main source of cocaine in Sydney is the Comanchero bikie gangs, although senior members of the NSW Police said a lot of small-time dealers were now operating by flying in kilos of cocaine via FedEx, ordered off the web.

* Watch Australia’s Cocaine Crisis Sunday 7.30pm on Sky News. Click here to read The Daily Telegraph’s Powderkeg series

Originally published as Sydney drug dealer who turned police informant speaks out