Named: Bundaberg drug dealers and how they were exposed
Bundaberg faces a drug scourge, with judicial members pointing to unsettling incidents as a result of drug use and police resources tied up in catching suppliers. Here are the dealers recently busted in the Bundaberg region.
Police & Courts
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With monikers like the less-than-flattering “iceberg”, the Bundaberg region has garnered a reputation for its continuous struggle against drugs, and traffickers and suppliers find themselves on police radars and in the judicial system.
In the past year, the region has recorded 1098 drug offences ranging from minor possession to uncovering major drug rings.
Magistrates and judges have been critical of the impact drugs like meth and cannabis have had on domestic violence in Bundaberg.
In early March a district court judge was critical of a domestic violence offender’s submission his offending was born from an addiction, an addiction which had ended his first marriage before launching a “horror movie” like attack on his next partner.
Judge Leanne Clare was critical of the submission and said the drug’s “insidious” presence in the Bundaberg community was a “scourge” which had made itself known in several court sentences before her in the preceding days.
As drugs continue to make their mark here are the dealers busted in Bundaberg in the past year and how police brought them down.
Todd Graeme Olive
A Bundaberg drug dealer who serviced 25 repeat customers on an almost daily basis was sentenced to four years behind bars after police found more than 40g of methamphetamines and $24,420 cash in his home.
Todd Graeme Olive pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in the Bundaberg Supreme Court in February last year after police raided his home in 2020, finding drugs, cash and a range of paraphernalia used for drug offending.
Over a four-month period of offending, Olive had built a “significant” network with 25 repeat customers at the street level with the occasional wholesale deal which earned him more $15,770 in online transactions alone.
The court heard a relationship breakdown had contributed to Olive’s drug offences and personal drug reliance, which left him the sole parent to his two children.
Crown prosecutor Christopher Cook said “unfortunately during the offending period, Olive had care of those children”.
Olive was sentenced to four years’ jail with the possibility of parole in 16 months for trafficking, and convicted and not further punished for possession.
Shelly-Ann McShane
An Agnes Water mum who used codewords such as tupperware and green vegetables for her drug sales was warned to think about if she loves drugs or her child more.
Shelly-Ann McShane pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking dangerous drugs in the Bundaberg Supreme Court in February last year.
The court was told the 34-year-old had been dealing in “low-level trafficking” over an eight-month period between 2018 and 2019 in Agnes Water to friends and family.
Crown prosecutor Madalyn Oliver told the court McShane had at least four customers, and supplied methamphetamines and cannabis and told her customers to download secure messaging applications and use a series of codewords such as tupperware, cupcakes, green pain and green vegetables.
The court heard McShane’s profits during the eight-month period was difficult to calculate, as she made several cash sales and used the drugs herself.
The court heard the father of McShane’s one-year-old child has his own history of “significant drug abuse issues” and Justice Graeme Crow told McShane she needed to think of the future of her child before thinking of drugs.
“Which do you love more, drugs or your child?” he asked.
McShane was sentenced to three years’ prison with immediate parole.
Andrew Kevin Snaith
A young Gayndah man found himself in the Bundaberg Supreme Court in February last year after a routine police operation led police to arrest him in a “nervous and drug affected” state.
Andrew Kevin Snaith pleaded guilty to six charges of supplying a dangerous drug along with possession of dangerous drugs and obstructing a police officer.
The court heard Snaith was on probation for a previous assault offence, when he committed the supply offences which landed him in the Supreme Court after police intercepted communications between himself and a person suspected of drug activities.
“He was found in possession of cannabis, Viagra and back at the police station he was found with 10.59g of methamphetamines,” Crown Prosecutor Christopher Cook said.
The court heard Snaith had resisted the search but a CT scan revealed the 10.59g of methamphetamines was found “secreted between Snaith’s buttocks”.
Snaith had possession of the methamphetamines for commercial use, the court heard.
Snaith was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with immediate eligibility for parole due to time served.
Giuseppe Michael Catalano
A farm worker convicted of supplying meth multiple times was brought undone by text messages found on a former associate’s phone.
Giuseppe Michael Catalano, 25, pleaded guilty to six counts of supplying a dangerous drug (methylamphetamine) in Bundaberg District Court in September last year.
Catalano came to the attention of police through an operation in March last year, when they downloaded the contents of a mobile phone belonging to a former associate.
Text messages on the phone showed Catalano discussing the supply of methylamphetamine to the associate three times between February and May 2021, with Catalano offering to supply the drug on two occasions and actually supplying it on one occasion.
In the text messages heard in court Catalano offered the associate an “hb” costing $800 or a “b” costing $1600, using the abbreviation for a half-ball, weighing 1.75g, and 8-ball, weighing 3.5g.
Catalano told the associate the methylamphetamine he was supplying was “the best stuff you’ll get around at the moment its filth”, and arranged to meet him at a high school to supply him with an $800 half-ball of the drug.
Taking into account Catalano’s age, employment, good character references and the fact he was caring for his daughter, Judge John Allen sentenced him to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years.
Tay-lah Marquita Vo
It all came unstuck for a 22-year-old woman after the car she was travelling in was pulled over by police near Bundaberg when they noticed a “strong odour of cannabis”.
Tay-lah Marquita Vo pleaded guilty to 11 counts of supplying dangerous drugs and one count each of possessing dangerous drugs, possessing items used in the commission of a crime and possessing utensils or pipes in March.
Police prosecutor Andrew Powis told the court Vo had been picked up for her offending in November 2023, when police pulled over a red Suzuki Swift that she was travelling in.
Vo and the driver of the car were detained while police searched the car, where they discovered 138g of cannabis along with other drug paraphernalia.
Snr Const. Powis said police seized Vo’s phone, which revealed messages indicating she had sold small amounts of cannabis to her friends and family.
Vo was placed on 12 months probation, with forfeiture orders on everything except her mobile phone.
Steven Paul Gordon
A drug dealer arrested with $3000 of cannabis avoided jail because of the supporting influence of a family member.
Steven Paul Gordon, 22, pleaded guilty in Bundaberg District Court in October of 2023 to charges of trafficking and possessing a dangerous drug, possessing an item used in connection with trafficking a dangerous drug and possessing utensils for the purpose of administering, using or producing dangerous drugs.
The court heard police searched Gordon’s Bundaberg home in May 2022, finding 313g of cannabis packed in cryovac bags in a safe, in addition to bongs, grinders and scales.
After searching his phone, police found messages sent between Gordon and his clients in which he boasted of profiting of as much as $170 per ounce through his offending.
Crown prosecutor Toby Corsbie told the court based on this estimate the cannabis found in Gordon’s home had a total value of $3000.
The court heard at the time of the search Gordon was on a probation order for cannabis possession charges imposed two months prior, but since May 2022 had been encouraged to relocate to Riverina district of NSW by his sister and overcome his addiction.
Judge Vicki Loury gave Gordon a head sentence of three years’ imprisonment suspended for five years.
Antionette Sarah Maree Collins
A Bundaberg drug trafficker with a long history of substance abuse was released on parole in March 2023 after the court heard of the “unusual” circumstances behind her offending.
Antoinette Sarah Maree Collins pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking, two counts of unlawful possession of a drug and one count of possession of utensils used in the commission of a drug offence in the Bundaberg Supreme Court on Monday, March 4.
The court heard between March 2022 and October 2023, Collins was trafficking drugs at a low level to a small number of clients, one of whom she met with on more than 120 occasions.
Collins used secretive communication to discuss her frequent drug deals but despite the constant meetings she was making little profit from the offending and was often owed money.
Barrister Callan Cassidy appeared for Collins and told the court she had a long history of substance abuse stemming from a difficult childhood, which began at the age of nine and by the age of 20 escalated to methamphetamines, however her criminal record remained clean until her early 50s, when she was sentenced in the Bundaberg Magistrates Court for possession.
Collins was sentenced to three years’ jail with immediate parole for trafficking and convicted and not further punished on the remaining charges.
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