EXPOSED: The drug traffickers who have faced Brisbane court in recent months
From a homeless man who sold drugs to support his habit to a man whose drug operation was busted when police bugged his house, these are the drug traffickers who have faced Brisbane courts recently.
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From a homeless man who trafficked drugs to support his habit to a man whose drug operation was busted when police bugged his house, these are the drug traffickers who have faced Brisbane courts in recent months.
Michelle Ellen Whishaw
A Stafford Heights woman avoided jail time after being busted for starting a drug trafficking operation just after police caught her with 6g of pure meth.
Michelle Ellen Whishaw began trafficking drugs shortly after moving out of her father’s house in 2019, the Brisbane Supreme Court heard in January.
Crown prosecutor Chontelle Farnsworth said Whishaw had first come to attention of police after she was caught with about 6g of pure meth, but despite this she began trafficking shortly after.
She said Whishaw would deliver drugs to her customers, sometimes multiple times a day, and used “coded language” to avoid detection.
Whishaw was charged with trafficking drugs for about six weeks between September 1 and October 12, 2019.
On one occasion Whishaw offered to supply an unknown amount of MDMA and another time she organised to supply GHB, which is commonly used as a date-rape drug.
She pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, supplying schedule 1 dangerous drugs, supplying schedule 2 dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drug specified in schedule 1 or 2 and possessing dangerous drugs schedule 1 drug quantity of or exceeding schedule 3 but less than schedule 4.
Whishaw was given a head sentence of three years with immediate parole release.
Neil Leslie Freemantle
A trafficker’s luxurious lifestyle unravelled after police bugged his home and discovered he was involved in a massive interstate trafficking operation, moving drugs including marijuana, cocaine, MDMA and testosterone.
Neil Leslie Freemantle, 31, will be behind bars for at least eight years for his role in the operation, after he went from being the “keeper” of drugs and money to being an active drug trafficker, the Brisbane Supreme Court heard in January.
It comes more than three years after his arrest in September 2018, when police seized $1.5m cash and more than 44kg of marijuana during a raid on his New Farm home.
Officers also found 432g of a substance containing 170g of pure cocaine, 2kg of a substance containing 600g of pure MDMA, 10g of pure MDA and 30 vials of testosterone worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Freemantle was part of an operation which was trafficking drugs at a wholesale level and used runners to transport drugs interstate.
Between August 29 and Freemantle’s arrest on September 10, 2018, police overheard 30 drug transactions and conversations about how to hide the large sums of cash.
Freemantle pleaded guilty to 13 charges including one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, two counts of supplying dangerous drugs and two counts of possessing a dangerous drug specified in schedule 1 or 2.
Justice David Boddice said he was satisfied that Freemantle’s offending warranted a head sentence of 10 years.
The sentence meant Freemantle would be declared a serious violent offender and have to serve a minimum of 80 per cent of the sentence in prison.
Freemantle’s 23 days of pre-sentence custody was declared time served.
Carly Therese Anderson
A drug trafficking mum from the Sunshine Coast faced court after police found $17,000 cash, meth, marijuana, bullets and a crossbow during a raid of her home.
In January, 38-year-old mum Carly Therese Anderson was sentenced for her role in a major trafficking operation.
The Brisbane Supreme Court heard that Anderson’s offending was revealed through a police sting targeting her then partner’s trafficking operation, and that she “assisted him” for about six weeks in 2020.
Anderson’s partner was running a meth trafficking ring with six agents, at least 15 customers and he had made at least 82 supplies ranging in quantities from 0.2g to 10 ounces.
On August 12, 2020, police raided the couple’s Maroochydore house and uncovered 93.61g of pure methylamphetamine in their bedroom, as well as marijuana and marijuana seeds, about $17,000 cash next to their bed and $200 in Anderson’s purse.
Police also found a taser, a crossbow, bullets, knuckledusters, flick knives, syringes, digital scales and $50 in counterfeit money.
The mum pleaded guilty to several offences including one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs, two counts of supplying dangerous drugs, two counts of supplying schedule 1 dangerous drugs and one count of possessing dangerous drugs schedule 1 drug quantity of or exceeding schedule 3 but less than schedule 4.
Anderson was given a head sentence of three years with an immediate parole release.
The court heard Anderson’s partner was dealt with for drug trafficking in the Supreme Court in August last year and given a head sentence of four years.
Pacey Hassell-Mead
A Kippa-Ring man who trafficked five different drugs over 18-months pleaded guilty to several drug offences in Brisbane Supreme Court in December.
Pacey Jamaine Hassell-Mead pleaded guilty to charges including three counts of possessing dangerous drugs, one each of trafficking in dangerous drugs, possessing a commercial quantity of a Schedule 1 dangerous drug, possessing cash obtained from trafficking, and possessing a thing used in the commission of a crime.
The court heard Hassell-Mead trafficked in five different dangerous drugs between January 1, 2019 and his arrest on June 2, 2020.
He mainly trafficked in marijuana, but also dealt cocaine, MDMA, and two other Schedule 2 drugs.
Hassell-Mead made 203 transactions in the 18-month period, with the Crown able to prove 61 of those actually occurred.
When a search warrant was executed on his residence on June 2, Hassell-Mead was discovered in possession of four types of drugs, one of them in a commercial quantity, as well as cash, drug utensils and other paraphernalia.
His operation was described as “relatively unsophisticated” by the Crown.
Hassell-Mead was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with immediate release on parole.
Benjamin Ashley Ogden
A homeless man who trafficked meth, marijuana and GHB to support his drug habit was a “hardworking, family man” before a series of tragedies led to an addiction to pain pills.
Miami man Benjamin Ashley Ogden, 41, trafficked the drugs for about three months in 2020, selling street level and occasionally wholesale quantities, the Brisbane Supreme Court heard on Tuesday.
Ogden was “living rough” and was homeless at the time, said defence barrister Nicholas McGhee.
He said Ogden had “negative peer influences” and was using drugs when he began trafficking.
“The money he was earning he was putting back into his own habit,” Mr McGhee said.
The court heard it was unclear how many supplies Ogden made during the period of his offending but that he sold to at least 23 customers, some of whom would on sell the drugs to their own customers.
He pleaded guilty in February to several offences including trafficking dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs, drug driving, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and driving while disqualified by court order.
Justice Elizabeth Wilson gave Ogden a head sentence of four years and declared 320 days of pre-sentence custody as time served.
He was disqualified from driving for two years and a serious drug offence certificate was issued.
Kyle Anthony Eichmann
Kyle Anthony Eichmann was spending up to $150 a day on meth with his then-partner before he decided to start an 11-month drug trafficking operation.
The Deception Bay man pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court in December to 28 counts of supplying a dangerous drug and one count of trafficking in dangerous drugs.
Eichmann’s drug trafficking operation lasted 11 months between January 4, 2020 and his arrest on November 1, 2020.
Eichmann trafficked in street-level quantities of marijuana, MDMA and meth to about 36 customers.
He had a severe methamphetamine addiction at the time of his offending.
Defence barrister James Feely told the court during Eichmann’s trafficking period, he and his then-partner were spending up to $150 a day on their ice habits.
He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment, with parole-eligibility after he had served 12 months behind bars.
Jessey Steven Bell
A Darling Downs drug trafficker was busted after police saw him put a bag of capsules down his pants at a music festival.
Jessey Steven Bell, formerly of Murarrie, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of supplying a Schedule 1 dangerous drug and one each of possessing a dangerous drug and drug trafficking. The two drug supply offences occurred in Fortitude Valley in November 2019, with the MDMA trafficking business in operation between December 13, 2019 and January 4, 2020.
The Brisbane Supreme Court heard the trafficking offence was uncovered following the commission of Bell’s fourth offence, possessing 19 MDMA pills, which occurred at a music festival at Bowen Hills on January 4, 2020.
Messages on Bell’s phone showed he offered up to 40 caps for sale on multiple occasions, the Crown could only point to actual transactions totally 36 caps and 2g of loose MDMA crystals.
However, the court heard there was an aspect of “advertising” to Bell’s business which made it more serious.
Bell was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment with immediate release on parole.
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