Drug dealers of Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Gympie and Bundaberg

The convicted drug dealers that operate between Gympie, the Fraser Coast and Bundaberg are men and women, young and old, and they have paid the price of spreading the misery and destruction of drug addiction in our community. See the full list:

Wide Bay police are fighting a constant battle against the scourge of drugs, with new data showing hundreds of drug offences are being committed across the region every month.

According to data from the Queensland Police Service, the North Coast region, of which the Wide Bay Burnett is a part, has constantly recorded more than 700 new drug offences every month for the past 12 months.

Last month, 768 new drug offences were recorded in the region.

That was less than June 2022, when 1115 new drug offences were recorded.

But while hundreds of new offences are being recorded each month, Wide Bay police have had some big wins in recent times, busting significant drug dealing operations across the region, including an alleged drug ring involving several members of the same family.

These are some of the cases that have been heard before the courts in recent months.

Jason Daniel and Crystal Pannell

A Bundaberg couple was living the high life, acquiring cars and a caravan well beyond their means, thanks to a lucrative meth dealing operation.

But their offending began to be exposed when one of their customers was stopped by police after leaving the $52,000 caravan which had been purchased to provide a location to sell drugs.

Jason Trevor Daniel, 41, and Crystal Lee Pannell, 29, were sentenced together for trafficking dangerous drugs, along with other offences, when they faced Maryborough Supreme Court in August 2022.

Daniel also pleaded guilty to possessing property suspected of being the proceeds of an offence under the Drugs Misuse Act and one charge of possession of property suspected of being acquired from proceeds of an offence under the Drugs Misuse Act. Pannell, a mother of two, pleaded guilty to possessing property suspected of being acquired from proceeds of an offence under the Drugs Misuse Act.

Daniel and Pannell had been in a de facto relationship, the court heard, with Daniel the principal offender when it came to the drug dealing operation.

Jason Trevor Daniel, 41, and Crystal Lee Pannell were both sentenced for trafficking dangerous drugs, along with other offences, when they faced Maryborough Supreme Court in August 2022.

Daniel’s offending began just a month after he was sentenced to three years in prison (and released immediately on parole) on another trafficking charge, and would continue for six months until he was taken into custody.

His offending was committed while he was on parole and out on bail, the court was told.

It heard Pannell helped Daniel with his trafficking business, including driving to the Gold Coast to collect meth when his licence was suspended and he was expecting a visit from the parole board.

On another occasion, she helped deliver meth to customers when Daniel wasn’t available.

She often transported money and drugs between her mother and Daniel, the court heard.

Justice Graeme Crow said it was unknown how much profit the two had made.

Pannell’s offending was serious but not the same level of criminality as Daniel’s, he said.

He said her mother was “severely addicted” to drugs, but Pannell appeared to have avoided that.

Justice Crow said he had received letters and references describing Pannell as trustworthy and a good mother.

Pannell had suffered as a child, being sexually abused by one of her mother’s partners, the court heard.

She had been an “unwilling participant” caught up in a family situation, the court was told.

Pannell was now caring for her children and her siblings, the court heard.

She was sentenced to three years in prison but was released immediately on parole.

Cameron James Paul

A Bundaberg drug trafficker had customers deposit a total of $102,000 into his Indue Cashless Debit Card Account.

This was revealed in Maryborough Supreme Court where Cameron James Paul, 33, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and other related offences.

The court heard his drug empire began unravelling during a police search when he was found with thousands of dollars in cash.

Paul told the officers he had won the money gambling, but Justice Graeme Crow said that was a lie.

An investigation, including analysis of Paul’s phone, would reveal extensive evidence of his meth deals, and the lengths he went to in order to hide his offending, including the use of encrypted messages.

The deposits adding up to $102,000 were made over several months in 2020, the court heard.

During that time, Paul sold meth in wholesale and street amounts, used “standover tactics” to recover debts and tried to control the pricing of meth in Bundaberg.

At the time of his arrest, he declined an interview with police.

Paul, a father of two, had an “impressive work history” the court was told, but at the time of the offending he was unemployed and had a Cashless Debit Card – the card being trialled in the Hinkler electorate which quarantines 80 per cent of the recipient’s Centrelink payment and can’t be used on gambling and alcohol products.

Paul had spent almost six months trafficking drugs and had made a substantial profit.

He’s also spent 13 months and 25 days in presentence custody.

Justice Crow said the deposits received in the Indue account could not be withdrawn in cash.

He said drugs caused a great deal of harm in the community, but offenders often felt more sorry for themselves than for the harm they caused in society.

He urged Paul to use his time in prison to reflect on his actions.

Paul was sentenced to seven years in jail, with parole eligibility from February 10, 2023.

Mellessa Togo

A mum at the centre of a drug ring, selling meth and cannabis to more than 100 customers, has been told her daughter would be “better off without her” if she doesn’t walk away from her life of crime.

Mellessa “Ruby” Togo, 35, pleaded guilty in Maryborough Supreme Court to drug trafficking.

The court heard Togo came to the attention of police while they were targeting a drug operation in Hervey Bay.

During her offending, Togo sourced the drugs from an alleged co-offender, who police say ran the operation between Hervey Bay and Logan.

On one occasion, she owed him $4000, police allege, and the court heard she met with him on 52 occasions, sourcing drugs and paying for drugs she had sold.

Phone intercepts would also play a part in cracking the investigation.

Police found evidence of 200 actual supplies of drugs to more than 100 different customers and 140 attempts to supply over a period of about five months.

The quantities were not clear, but the drugs were understood to have been sold at street levels.

A search warrant executed by police revealed the extent of Togo’s offending.

At her home they found her phone, with evidence of drug messages, as well as scales and clip seal bags for dividing up the drugs.

Togo allowed customers to buy drugs “on credit” and she sometimes chased down debts, including threatening violence on two occasions.

There was no evidence she had ever engaged in actual violence, the court was told.

At one point, she had boasted about how much money she had made, but she was not living a lavish lifestyle as a result of her criminal activities, defence barrister Callum Cassidy said.

After her arrest on the trafficking charge, she spent 342 days in presentence custody.

Justice Graeme Crow said Togo was a good example of what meth did to otherwise decent people, saying it made them do things they “wouldn’t dream of doing”.

“It’s a vicious industry,” he said.

“Your life will be a disaster if you return to illicit drugs.

“If you’re strong enough to turn your back on drugs, you can regain your life.

“Otherwise your daughter will grow up without you and she will be better off without you.”

Togo was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

Graham Robert Braid

Text messages revealed a man’s illicit cocaine dealings after police spoke to him on an unrelated matter, with a court hearing the man’s history of offending coincided with the breakdown of his romantic relationships.

Graham Robert Braid, 38, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of supplying dangerous drugs when he appeared before Maryborough District Court.

The court heard the offending was discovered by police when they were speaking to Braid on an unrelated matter.

The officers saw a number of messages on Braid’s phone, offering supply of cocaine.

In addition to the supply charges, he faced summary offences, including possessing dangerous drugs, driving without a licence, failing to dispose of a needle or syringe, drug driving and possessing utensils.

The court heard Braid had been facing financial difficulties and had already drawn on his super when he started dealing the drugs.

The court heard he got involved in selling drugs in order to fund his own drug use.

His offending was described as low level but “incredibly persistent”.

The court heard Braid had found work as a concreter and was in a long-term relationship.

A letter from his employer described him as a valuable employee.

The court heard Braid was currently in a long-term relationship, but previous relationship breakdowns had resulted in drug use and offending.

Judge Suzanne Sheridan said the circulation of drugs through the community and the reliance on drugs destroyed lives.

Braid was sentenced to 18 months in prison, with immediate release on parole.

He was disqualified from driving for two years.

Beau James Beech

A member of an alleged family-operated meth ring operating between Hervey Bay and Logan was sentenced.

Beau James Beech, 33, pleaded guilty in Hervey Bay District Court to supplying dangerous drugs.

The court heard Beau Beech had arranged two meth supplies on behalf of another man.

His offending was uncovered when police intercepted communications between Beech and the other man.

He was a man who suffered from significant drug addiction, but while he was in custody he had been free of drugs, the court was told.

Beech spent 355 days in presentence custody and had used that time to undertake courses to deal with drug and alcohol addiction and to participate in a course involving agriculture and landscaping skills.

He was hoping to find work in that field upon his release.

Judge Suzanne Sheridan commended Beech for using his time in custody productively.

“I’m sure you only too well know how much drugs can destroy a person’s life,” she said.

“It’s a hard road, freeing yourself from an addiction to drugs.”

Beech was sentenced to 18 months in jail with immediate parole release.

Jezsryn Lee Masaberg

A meth dealer turned to a life of crime in the wake of the tragic death of his partner, who died suddenly of a brain aneurysm, a court has heard.

Jezsryn Lee Masaberg, 35, pleaded guilty to a series of charges when he appeared before Hervey Bay District Court, including supplying dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs and unlawful possession of a weapon.

The father-of-four, who sat in the dock wearing a black shirt with “Jesus” printed across the front, was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by police on April 8 at Beenleigh, the court heard.

Both Masaberg and a co-offender were caught with a quantity of marijuana and a homemade firearm.

An iPad in the vehicle tipped police off to other crimes.

It was used by Masaberg to make meth deals, the court was told.

Police also found $1350 in the vehicle, which Masaberg later admitted was to be used to buy meth.

The court heard Masaberg was the sole carer of his four children, who were all in court watching proceedings.

He lost his partner, Bellita Sailor, 27, when she collapsed suddenly in December 2015.

Grieving in the aftermath of her death, by 2019, Masaberg’s life was “falling apart”.

He suffered significant depression and attempted suicide on numerous occasions during the offending period.

When Masaberg was charged by police, he realised the depths he had sunk to, the court heard, describing it as a “big wake up call” to turn his life around.

Letters submitted to the court giving character references for Masaberg indicated the offending was out of character for him.

He had not had any criminal history until the offences committed after his partner died.

Masaberg had moved with his children to the country and had found God, the court heard.

When Judge Nathan Jarro explained that the maximum sentence that could be handed down for the offending was 20 years in prison, Masaberg’s children cried.

Judge Jarro said it didn’t take much for people to become hooked on illicit substances.

“It has the potential to destroy their lives and those of their families,” he said.

Judge Jarro said he noted Masaberg had brought his children to court and asked him if he wanted his children to be exposed to that kind of lifestyle.

He said the loss of Masaberg’s partner had seemed to have caused his life to “spiral out of control”.

But he said he had shown good sense in turning his life around.

Masaberg was sentenced to nine months in prison and was immediately released on parole.

Joanne Leigh Hawthorn, Barbara Gay Ward

Two women who were part of the same drug trafficking ring were sentenced in the Maryborough Supreme Court.

It was a case of rags to riches, with one of the women selling drugs to fund her own habit and the other earning $8000 in one week and upwards of $50,000 during her time in the drug ring.

Joanne Leigh Hawthorn, 52, was the first to be sentenced.

She pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, stealing and possessing anything used in connection with a crime.

Hawthorn had been part of a Hervey Bay meth ring, the court was told.

It heard police had targeted the operation over a lengthy period and during that time Hawthorn made multiple drug deals, mostly meth but sometimes cannabis, to 25 customers.

Between 0.1 grams and 3.5 grams of meth was sold during the transactions, while the largest deal involving cannabis amounted to 14 grams, the court heard.

Hawthorn made more money from her dealing, using the funds to feed her own drug habit.

The court heard Hawthorn had an extensive criminal history, much of it also related to drugs.

The court heard her offending in this instance was relatively low, street level offending to support her own drug use.

Hawthorn was sentenced to two and a half years jail, with immediate parole.

Barbara Gay Ward, 60, also faced Maryborough Supreme Court, appearing in front of Judge David Jackson.

She pleaded guilty to unlawful drug trafficking, possessing dangerous drugs, possessing utensils and pipes and receiving tainted property.

The court heard her main role in the ring was to courier drugs between Hervey Bay and Brisbane and in one instance, the Gold Coast.

The exact quantities of drugs being transported were unknown.

Ward allegedly let another offender store drugs at her property and during one week, she essentially ran the business, with a turnover of about $16,000 during that week, of which she received $8000, the court was told.

It was difficult to determine the amount of money she made during her time in the ring, but it was estimated at about $50,000.

The court heard Ward, who was supported in court by her siblings, had been unemployed after injuring her back and had been receiving unemployment payments since moving to Hervey Bay.

She had been used as a courier because of her lack of criminal or traffic history, the court was told.

Ward was not addicted to meth, but used it casually.

Judge Jackson said from the evidence placed before the court, Ward was of excellent character.

He said her offending was out of character, compared with the course of the rest of her life.

Ward was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison, wholly suspended. Judge Jackson said the chance of her reoffending was low.

Jason Troy Straun Robertson

One of Gympie‘s most notorious drug rings included Jason Troy Straun Robertson, who sold hundreds of dollars’ worth of dangerous drugs before being snagged by local police.

Robertson pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying a dangerous drug, and one count of possessing anything used to carry out a crime.

Two officers posed as potential customers to Robertson, and said they were interested in buying methylamphetamine.

The court heard Robertson sold $250 worth of product in Gympie, and $350 worth on the Sunshine Coast.

Robertson was sentenced to 15 months jail and was released on parole immediately.