Israel Kani fined for supplying cocaine amid Covid lockdowns

A Sunshine Coast court has been told a dodgy bag of cocaine is to blame for a Noosa champion boxer and gym owner getting tied up in a major drug bust on the Coast.

Israel Kani was fined $1500 for supplying a one gram bag of cocaine in 2020. (Pictured leaving Noosa Magistrates Court).

A bag of “poor quality” cocaine has left a Noosa champion boxer and gym owner $1500 out of pocket after he became embroiled in a drug scandal.

Israel Kani, 50, pleaded guilty in the Maroochydore District Court on March 13 to one charge of supplying a schedule one drug from April 8, 2020.

A separate charge of supply a schedule one drug was dropped.

The court was told Kani, who owns the Noosa Box Office gym, was arrested in January 2022 and originally charged with trafficking following a police investigation into the supply of cocaine on the Sunshine Coast.

The charge was later changed.

Crown prosecutor Madalyn Olivero told the court Kani was caught up in the operation after police unearthed text conversations about supplying cocaine.

Israel Kani leaves Noosa Magistrates Court.

Ms Olivero said Kani was asked over text what his “bag or cash situation” was, to which he replied saying he was counting money and had two bags of cocaine left.

Kani was told this person would collect one, and they picked up a 1g bag from Kani’s house a short time later. It was not a commercial sale.

Defence barrister Nathan Turner said at the time of the offence, the Noosa gym had closed down amid strict Covid lockdowns, putting Kani under financial stress and he then turned to cocaine.

“He obtained some ... and returned the rest of it to him because it was of poor quality,” Mr Turner said in relation to the offence before the court.

Kani’s blue card was later suspended and then cancelled, which Mr Turner said impacted his client’s income as well as the gym itself.

He said Kani had owned the gym for 20 years and trained past junior Australian titleholders as well as people with special needs and children.

Letters from referees tendered to the court described Kani as a “positive role model” who had expressed “regret and remorse” over his actions.

Israel Kani was charged after he returned a bag of “poor quality” cocaine. Generic image.

In Kani’s own letter, Mr Turner said he was “truly sorry and embarrassed and took full responsibility for his conduct”.

Kani was an amateur boxing champion from 2001 to 2005 and in 2007 and 2008 became the Australian super middleweight champion, the court was told.

He was fined $1500 by Judge Gary Long and ordered to pay it by April 13, 2023.

A conviction was not recorded to give Kani the opportunity to reapply for his blue card.