Meth traffickers Nicholas Blaine Carey, 30, and Beau Anthony Graham, 27, left their stashes at drop points along rural roads in Parkhurst and near Lioness Park at Lammermoor

The kingpin of a meth-trafficking ring and his co-accused have faced the music for their crimes, as police reveal for the first time how they tracked the syndicate’s sophisticated drug ‘drop off’ points in a rural Central Queensland suburb. FULL DETAILS HERE.

Overseas holidays, luxury cars and international bank accounts are just some of the places where drug trafficking profits from a Central Queensland syndicate ended up.

The kingpin of the lucrative drug syndicate was first jailed for trafficking drugs when he was barely an adult and was back before the courts again aged 30 to be sentenced with one of his co-accused on Thursday, February 24.

Nicholas Blaine Carey, 30, and Beau Anthony Graham, 27, both pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton to one count each of trafficking dangerous drugs and one of contravening police direction to provide access to electronic devices.

Beau Graham file photograph.

Graham also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing property used in the commission of a crime (two mobile phones) and one of possessing drug utensils.

Carey and Graham, along with an alleged third co-offender, trafficked drugs between January 1, 2019 and February 20, 2020 in the Rockhampton and Yeppoon areas.

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.

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

Crown prosecutor Joshua Phillips said the international trips costing “several thousands of dollars” were an example of the lifestyle they were leading as a result of the trafficking business.

Justice Graeme Crow said police started investigating the trio’s methamphetamine drug 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.

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

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.

Then, Graham and the alleged third co-offender, Kyle James 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 less amounts.

Police seized three kilograms of meth from the drop points.

After police seized 40.39g pure meth in 54.79g of substance from the fourth drop point in November 2019, Carey threatened a fourth man who he suspected had stolen the drug stash.

In February, police seized 1080g from the third drop point – a site routinely visited by Graham and allegedly by Mr Field, as per the tracking device data.

They also seized 1969g of substance, of which 1447.1g was pure meth, from the Yeppoon storage point.

Justice Crow said Graham’s partner read out a message on his phone on January 3, 2020, allegedly from Mr Field saying he had received a message informing him Graham’s house was being watched and that he was taking money to Carey who knew about it.

Justice Crow said police ended the investigation hurriedly on February 19, fearing retaliation action would be inflicted on the fourth man who the trio believed lost three kilograms of meth from them and Carey had allegedly directed Mr Field to inspect the man’s vehicle for possible repossession.

The meth had actually been seized by police and the man was the only other person beside the syndicate trio who knew of the drop off point locations, hence the suspicions about this fourth man losing the meth.

Carey’s barrister Paula Morreau said her client made admissions to police, which included the start date of the business and the quantity of drugs the trio trafficked during the 14-month period – eight kilograms.

Justice Crow said based on that eight kilogram figure, if the trio sold that meth in 1.75g quantities, as per advertised by Mr Field, “the syndicate would have generated $2,285,714”.

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

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 provided a written statement confirming this in his own admissions.”

Justice Crow said Carey admitted sourcing the meth from a contact who provided the drug statewide and would provide meth on credit occasionally.

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.

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

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

Records showed he transferred this money to Carey between November 2019 and February 2020.

“Carey also took a dominant role in debt recovery and threats to the man the syndicate assumed was responsible for Queensland Police Services’ seizures of the methamphetamine,” Justice Crow said.

The court heard Carey was introduced to marijuana by his older brother, Ben, when Carey was 15 years old.

By the time he was 17, Carey was addicted and had troubles with concentration which led to him losing a mechanics apprenticeship and a concreting job.

He had used marijuana to self-medicate his anxiety and depression issues.

Graham started using ice when he was 17 years old and had worked in fabrication and engineering until 2016 when his drug use, which increased following his father’s death from cancer, impacted his work.

At the time of Graham’s arrest, he was using 1.5g of meth per day.

However, since his release on bail, after serving 40 days presentence custody, Graham had paid about $10,000 over two years for 97 drug test results – all negative -which he provided to the court.

Both Graham and Carey were supported in court by family.

Carey’s trafficking breached a suspended sentence handed down in Rockhampton Magistrates Court in August 2017 for three counts of supplying drugs, one of producing and one of possessing drugs.

The suspended sentence of six months prison was activated by Justice Crow who ordered it be served concurrently with his trafficking sentence of nine years and nine months prison with 736 days presentence custody declared as time served and parole eligibility set May 18, 2023.

Justice Crow sentenced Graham to 9.5 years prison, declared 41 days presentence custody as time served and set parole eligibility at February 23, 2025.