Daniel Swanenburg: Zookeeper from ‘Joe Exotic’ TV show busted with drugs in Logan

A zookeeper working on the set of the Joe Exotic TV production has been caught with almost 4kg of weed and some magic mushrooms in a Logan police bust, a court has heard.

A zookeeper working on the set of the Joe Exotic TV production has been caught with almost 4kg of weed and some magic mushrooms in a Logan police bust, a court has heard.

Daniel Petrus Swanenburg, 60, pleaded guilty in district court in Beenleigh to possessing dangerous drugs, possessing property suspected of having being acquired to be used in a drug offence and possess utensils of pipes.

The court heard police found 3.97 kilograms of cannabis and 7.8 grams of magic mushrooms when they executed a search warrant at his home on August 4 last year.

The mushrooms were later analysed and found to contain Psilocybin.

Police also located electric scales, a grinder and a mirror that Swanenburg told police he used to weigh and cut up drugs.

He also told police he had been given the cannabis by a friend and intended to bake it into brownies, while he had been given the mushrooms at a party.

Swanenburg’s lawyer said he was currently employed working in the film and television industry and is one of the zookeepers on the set of the Joe Exotic TV production being filmed in Brisbane.

He also told the court he had a job working on the set of the new Jessica Watson biopic movie for Netflix being shot on the Gold Coast.

“I love it,” Swanenburg told the court.

The court heard he also struggled with PTSD, depression and anxiety.

He was given a six-month suspended sentence for a period of 12 months.

Joseph "Joe Exotic" Maldonado-Passage with one of his tigers. Photo: Netflix