Mathew and Andrew Cross, Howard Neale jailed for drug trafficking
Two Brisbane brothers and their friend have been jailed for a combined 22-and-a-half years, as more details of their criminal enterprise emerge.
Southeast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Southeast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Two Brisbane brothers and their friend have been jailed for a combined 22-and-a-half years for a massive heroin, ice and cocaine trafficking ring, as more details emerge around the extent of their operation and the extraordinary police effort required to smash it.
Rockhampton-born brothers Mathew Peter Cross, 35, and Andrew John Cross, 26, both of Morningside, as well as friend Howard Neale, 29, of Birkdale, pleaded guilty last week to a grab-bag of serious drug offences, with their sentence concluding on Monday.
Each was charged with trafficking in dangerous drugs over periods ranging from 17 months to seven weeks; the Cross brothers were charged with possessing a quantity of cocaine greater than 200g; while Mathew Cross alone was also charged with possessing testosterone and Diazepam.
Neale, meanwhile, was also charged with possessing a cornucopia of drugs including commercial quantities of heroin, cocaine and cannabis, as well as lesser quantities of testosterone, cocaine, ice, oxymetholone, trenbolone and others.
The trio were arrested on June 5, 2019, with simultaneous raids at Morningside and Birkdale, after Queensland Police launched Operation Papa Heirarchy in 2017 to smash the ring.
On Monday, Justice Soraya Ryan told the court the sentence was complicated by the fact she was being asked to sentence the trio on the basis they trafficked drugs over different periods of time.
Andrew Cross trafficked drugs the longest, for about 17 months, with older brother Mathew trafficking for about eight months of that time frame and Neale just under two.
Justice Ryan, in her sentencing remarks, revealed further details about the ring, the heirarchy between the trio and the methods police used to snare their targets.
According to Justice Ryan, Mathew Cross was the boss, younger brother Andrew was his right-hand man, and Neale a lowly courier.
The trio used bushland at Mount Cotton and Chelsea Rd, Ransome to bury their drugs, the court heard.
Police placed the sites under observation and witnessed Andrew Cross visit the caches 22 times in October 2018 alone, with Mathew Cross attending twice.
“Your conduct was consistent with burying drugs, weapons or cash,” Justice Ryan said.
Police surveilled the Ransome site and swept it three times, on November 23 and December 18, 2018, and January 3, 2018.
On the first occasion, police uncovered 262g pure heroin in 357g of substance, worth between $62,500–$75,000.
A smaller amount of heroin, 47g in 64g of substance, was uncovered in December and a “compressed block” containing 714g pure cocaine in more than a kilogram of substance was unearthed and removed by police on January 3 after they witnessed the Cross’ bury it on December 27, 2018.
When the Cross’ returned to the site, police observed them behave in a way that indicated they were under no illusions their cocaine had been seized, the court heard.
Meanwhile, police installed cameras at the Mount Cotton site on November 23, 2018, witnessing the Cross brothers attend it on multiple occasions.
Furthermore, a “stash house” used by the trio, belonging to an associate, was also placed under camera surveillance on April 15, 2019.
Justice Ryan told the court that in the short period the house was surveilled, Neale visited the residence 48 times in 30 days, Mathew Cross 16 times in 12 days and Andrew Cross four times in three days.
“The frequency of visits suggests an intensity to the operation, Justice Ryan said.
The day after the trio were arrested, police swept the Mount Cotton site and uncovered a huge cache of weapons, which included a machine gun, a military-style rifle, a pump-action shotgun and ammunition, as well as 11g pure methamphetamine.
The weapons are not the subject of any charges and Justice Ryan determined they were held there as “valuable commodities” as opposed to being an active part of their trafficking operation.
Defence counsel Saul Holt QC told the court last week his clients, the Cross brothers, held down normal jobs during the trafficking period and that the Crown had not put forward any evidence indicating what role, if any, each man played in the ring.
Barrister Laura Reece, acting for Neale, submitted he was little more than a “courier”.
Both barristers argued their clients had rehabilitated themselves from their offending ways.
The Cross brothers have been remanded in pre-sentence custody since their arrest on June 5, 2019, while Neale was granted Supreme Court bail after serving 28 days on remand.
Mathew Cross, as the senior man in the ring, was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment with parole-eligibility set at June 5 next year, after which he would have served three years.
Andrew Cross was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment, with parole-eligibility set at today.
Neale was sentenced to five-and-a-half years’ imprisonment, with parole-eligibility set at May 1, 2023, after which he would have served 18 months.
Council defends putting dogs down after ‘oversight’
A South East Queensland council has hit back at claims it unlawfully euthanised animals or fined pet owners over a seven-year period in which it declared more than 250 dogs as dangerous.
Suspected L-plater, 19, in early morning crash that killed jogger
Police are investigating whether the driver of an out-of-control car that killed a woman on her morning jog was an unaccompanied L-plater. It comes as a nearby resident recounts the moment her body was found.