Adrian John Doessel pleads guilty to drug trafficking on Sunshine Coast

A Sunshine Coast steel fabricator who sold between one and seven grams of cocaine to five or six customers a month has been sentenced ato six years behind bars.

Sunshine Coast police seized cash, MDMA, cannabis and cocaine in a major police raid in Aroona in July.

A tradie who ran a sophisticated trafficking business selling coke, MDMA and cannabis to customers on the Sunshine Coast will miss the birth of his first child after being jailed.

Adrian John Doessel, 27, faced Brisbane’s Supreme Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to trafficking drugs, possessing cannabis in excess of 500 grams, possessing more than two grams of cocaine and MDMA, two counts of possessing drugs, three counts of possessing property obtained from trafficking and possessing anything used in the commission of trafficking.

Crown prosecutor Ron Swanwick said Doessel trafficked cocaine and MDMA at a street level and sold wholesale amount of cannabis from July 2022 to July 2023.

A police raid uncovered drugs and cash.

The court heard the steel fabricator sold between one and seven grams of cocaine to five or six customers a month, MDMA to at least two customers and sourced and supplied six or seven pounds of cannabis every four to five months. He had at least seven returning customers.

“The defendant is being sentenced as a high frequency, sophisticated street level trafficker,” Mr Swanwick said.

“He communicated by way of encrypted applications Snapchat, Signal and Threema.

“The true extent of his trafficking is unknown. The business was very profitable where he had a turn over of at least $320,910 from his sales.”

The court heard he stored the majority of his proceeds and product in the homes of two others.

At a home in Aroona he stored 182 grams of pure cocaine, 29.5 grams of MDMA and six kilograms of cannabis along with $50,755 in cash. At a nearby home unbeknown to the occupant he stored $260,660 of his sale proceeds, the court heard.

Police raided the homes in July 2023.

“The narrative for his reasons of commencing … was that he was a particularly enthusiastic party goer, recreational drug user, it got out of control, he purchased large amounts because it was cheaper and used some for himself and sold the rest,” Mr Swanwick said.

“The indications of the operation go a little more than that. This is a well set up and organised drug trafficking operation, and in my submission it is more commercial than it is otherwise.”

Cash located as part of Doessel’s trafficking.

Barrister Tim Ryan said there were important mitigating factors including his client’s early pleas of guilty, extensive co-operation with police, rehabilitation and insight into his offending.

“He is fundamentally a good person but caught up in his own misuse of drugs,” he said.

“He realises the terrible mistake he has made.”

The court heard he had been raised on a cattle farm near Bundaberg and had a very minor criminal history.

Justice Catherine Muir said the offending was relatively sophisticated and brazen.

“This offending is extremely serious. You took pains to avoid detection. You were proactive,” she said.

However she accepted he had good prospects of rehabilitation, displayed genuine remorse, co-operated extensively, had community support and taken steps in the right direction.

As a result she decided to set a parole eligibility period earlier than usual however he would miss the birth of his first child next year, she said.

Doessel was sentenced to six years jail with a parole eligibility date of March 30 2026.