Braydyn Gunson: 12RND Strathpine co-owner jailed for drug trafficking

A young Moreton Bay gym owner will return to prison after a court heard he trafficked an extraordinary amount of MDMA, cannabis and other drugs.

A Moreton Bay gym owner trafficked wholesale quantities of drugs over three separate periods, despite being arrested and charged twice, funnelling kilograms of MDMA into southeast Queensland via the dark web.

Lawnton man Braydyn Jayde Gunson, 25, a co-owner of 12RND Fitness Strathpine, was jailed for nine years in Brisbane Supreme Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to dozens of drug offences, most seriously three counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs and 18 counts of importing a border-controlled drug.

The court heard his trafficking comprised three different periods; from November 15, 2015 to January 3, 2016; from June 30, 2016 to September 22, 2016; and from March 2017 to July 27, 2017.

Each period of trafficking only ceased when Gunson was arrested and charged.

On the first occasion, Gunson trafficked in wholesale quantities of cannabis, which he supplied on 10 occasions, as well as offering to supply MDMA.

The court heard at one point during this period, Gunson sold four pounds of cannabis for $14,000, and attempted to purchase another pound to sell for $3000.

Gunson was arrested and charged when his vehicle was searched in relation to another matter on January 3, 2016.

Lawnton gym owner Braydyn Jayde Gunson, 25. Picture: Alex Treacy

He was found in possession of small amounts of methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and MDMA, $1500 cash and a mobile phone, analysis of which revealed his trafficking of cannabis.

He was charged with drug trafficking and granted bail on January 19.

Five months later, however, he was back in the game.

Starting on June 30, 2016, Gunson began trafficking in “street-level” quantities of steroids, methamphetamine and MDA, conducting a number of transactions.

He was arrested and charged again with drug trafficking, while on bail for the previous offences, on September 21, 2016, following a search warrant on his residence.

Gunson had been identified as a person of interest due to phone intercepts from another man, who was since dealt with by the courts.

Police discovered him in possession of $1200 cash, more than 43g of steroids, a mobile phone and iPad, both of which contained drug-related messages.

Incredibly, Gunson had been warned by police on July 3 he was back on their radar, when they conducted a search warrant on another address, in which Gunson was present, which contained 899 MDMA tablets were found, yet he blithely continued trafficking.

On this occasion, he spent 37 days remanded in pre-sentence custody before being granted Supreme Court bail in October 2016, the court heard.

Despite being charged twice with trafficking, Gunson remained unperturbed and in March 2017 launched his biggest operation yet: trafficking wholesale quantities of MDMA.

Gunson attempted to import 1.22kg of pure MDMA within 2.7kg of substance from Germany via the 'dark web', all 44 packages of which were seized.

However, the court heard, Gunson had other sources and ultimately supplied MDMA regularly to nine customers, who had their own customer base.

The court heard Gunson would make a profit of between $10,000-$25,000 per kilogram of MDMA, after paying between $30,000–$50,000 to acquire the drugs.

Gunson also hired two friends to help with his operation, the court was told.

He was arrested in July 27, 2017 and spent nearly a year-and-a-half remanded in pre-sentence custody, before granted on bail on February 15, 2019.

Defence counsel Anthony Kimmins told the court his client had turned his life around since his incarceration, meeting his wife, who has now given birth to their first child, and purchasing the gym together.

Justice Peter Callaghan told the court it was "unfortunate" Gunson had to return to custody as he believed the defendant was fully rehabilitated.

"You are a different person from the fellow who was engaging in such antisocial behaviour," Justice Callaghan said.

Recognising this, Gunson was made immediately parole-eligible.