Reece Liam Eveans: Clueless ice trafficker jailed

A Brisbane father-of-three with long-running drug issues has been jailed on two counts of trafficking.

A Brisbane father-of-three involved in trafficking methamphetamine smashed his phone with a hammer when police executed a search warrant, not realising it would leave the incriminating simcard untouched.

Sandgate man Reece Liam Eveans, 32, formerly of Mountain Creek, where some his ice trafficking occurred, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday to seven serious drug offences.

They included two counts of trafficking in a dangerous drug, four counts of supplying a dangerous drug, and one of possessing a mobile phone used in connection with a drug offence.

Eveans’ offending was detected by a police operation set up to target the production and distribution of methamphetamine on the Sunshine Coast.

Eveans was a customer of the main target of the operation.

Between June 15 and August 7, 2019, and again from September 26 to October 16, 2019, when he was arrested and charged, Eveans trafficked mostly in street-level quantities of methamphetamine but occasionally in wholesale.

Sandgate ice trafficker Reece Liam Eveans, 32. Picture: Facebook

During his first period of trafficking, police were able to ascertain Eveans purchased four ounces of ice from his main supplier, some for his personal use but mostly to sell.

When police executed a search warrant on Eveans’ Sandgate residence following his second period of ice trafficking, officers were forced to confiscate a hammer Eveans was using to smash his phone in the mistaken belief it would help hide the evidence of his business.

His additional offences of supplying Schedule 1 dangerous drugs occurred at Burpengary separate to his ice trafficking.

Eveans was to stand trial on Monday but an eleventh-hour change of heart averted the need for what was estimated to be a five-day hearing.

Defence counsel Steven Jones said his client’s original decision to dispute the charges stemmed from a misunderstanding of the strength of the case again him.

He said Eveans’ offending occurred in the context of a breakdown of his marriage, separation from his three children, and inability to work due to a single-vehicle collision which has left him with chronic hip pain.

Justice David Boddice sentenced Eveans to four years’ imprisonment, suspended after serving 12 months for an operational period of four years.