Kyle James Field, 27, sentenced for his role in Rockhampton meth trafficking syndicate with Nicholas Blaine Carey and Beau Anthony Graham

The main drug runner of a Central Queensland methamphetamine syndicate had no criminal record before participating in the multimillion-dollar illegal enterprise. Read how his life of crime unravelled.

The main drug runner of a methamphetamine syndicate had no criminal record before participating in the multimillion-dollar illegal enterprise.

Kyle James Field, 27, pleaded guilty on March 7 in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton to one count of trafficking a dangerous drug, one of possessing drug utensils and one of possessing cash suspected to be tainted property.

Field is the third of three men in the syndicate to be jailed in the past fortnight.

The kingpin, Nicholas Blaine Carey, 30, and Beau Anthony Graham, 27, were sentenced on February 24.

They were two of 22 people charged after drug raids across the region resulted in 3.2 kilograms of methamphetamines being seized and 58 charges laid in February 2020.

Carey and Graham pleaded guilty to trafficking drugs between January 1, 2019 and February 20, 2020 in the Rockhampton and Yeppoon areas.

Nicholas Blaine Carey, 30, was sentenced to nine years and nine months prison for trafficking over $2m of meth in 14-months in 2019 and 2020.

Field’s trafficking of drugs took place between May 14, 2019 and February 20, 2020.

The court heard one of Field’s customers owed him $20,000 at one stage.

When police searched Field’s bedroom at a Forbes Ave, Frenchville, residence in February 2020, they found $4190 cash under the bed, along with digital scales, tick sheet, clip seal bags and a magnetic box.

Senior Sergeant Detective Luke Peachey at Forbes Ave in relation to a drug raid in 2020.

Carey and Graham used drug sale proceeds to fund overseas holidays and luxury cars; plus placed funds in international bank accounts and invested in family businesses.

Justice Graeme Crow said police started investigating the trio’s meth trafficking business in June 2019 with telecommunications intercepts from July 2019 until March 2020 yielding no evidence of their crimes due to their phones being encrypted, however tracking devices and surveillance cameras did.

It is believed the trio sourced eight kilograms of meth during the trafficking period with calculations putting the revenue in the ballpark of $2.285 million.

However, there could be no accurate figures obtained based on police evidence.

“This was a very large wholesale commercial meth enterprise,” Justice Crow said.

Police tracked the trio’s movements, which included Carey sourcing the meth and storing it in the vicinity of Lioness Park, Lammermoor.

Then, Graham and Field would deliver the meth to dead drop off points along the rural roads of Belmont and Dawson in Parkhurst, where it would stay until the syndicate members came back, picking up ounces at a time to on-sell in one ounce or fewer amounts.

Beau Graham.

“You were the main drug runner,” Justice Crow said during the sentencing of Field.

Police seized three kilograms of meth from the drop points.

Justice Crow said the trio used drug revenue to purchase vehicles including a mechanical digger and a Mercedes, place money in investment accounts, invested in family businesses, transferred money to an international bank account and spent thousands on international holidays to Thailand and Vietnam.

He said they set up false businesses to avoid detection and moved meth in cloudy water.

Justice Crow said the trio carried out their “own operations while working in a complimentary fashion akin to a partnership or a joint venture”.

“Carey may be seen as the head of the syndicate in the sense that he was further up the chain and the first to source the drugs and the person who sourced the kilograms of methamphetamine,” he said.

Carey would purchase one kilogram for $100,000-$130,000, meaning he purchased $800,00-$1.24 million of drugs over the trafficking period.

Police conducting searches at a home on Hardacre St in Wandal on February 19, 2020. The vehicles were later impounded.

The largest transaction was on the last occasion when Carey purchased five kilograms for $500,000, paying $250,000 upfront.

“Carey regularly met with Field and received $101,000 cash throughout the trafficking period as recorded on the surveillance devices,” Justice Crow said.

The court heard Field worked in a bicycle shop for three years after leaving school in year 11.

He then went on to complete a four-year electrical apprenticeship and worked full time until he was remanded in custody for 6.5 months before sentencing.

Field was supported in court by both of his parents, who had moved to Bundaberg when he was 18.

Defence lawyer Scott Lynch handed up a bundle of negative drug test results achieved by Field after he rehabilitated from drugs while on bail.

He said his client was on a very good path to rehabilitation and had employment lined up for when he was released from custody.

Justice Crow sentenced Field to eight years prison with parole eligibility on November 6, 2023.