Ex bikie ‘boss’ of massive drug ring jailed for smuggling weed

An ex-president of the Gold Coast arm of the Bandidos and ex Comanchero bikie has been jailed for leading an organised crime syndicate that smuggled millions of dollars worth of cannabis into Queensland.

There was a false wall discovered in one of the trucks used in the drug ring.

An ex-president of the Gold Coast arm of the Bandidos and ex Comanchero bikie has been jailed for leading an organised crime syndicate that smuggled millions of dollars worth of cannabis into Queensland.

Adam Christopher White appeared in the District Court in Brisbane on Thursday before Judge Anthony Rafter SC, where he was sentenced for trafficking in cannabis and possession of steroids while on parole for other crimes.

White, from Brisbane’s Cannon Hill, is best known as having fought in the notorious Broadbeach brawl in September 2013 for which he was a given four month wholly suspended jail sentence for riot.

When White was charged with trafficking in November 2021 police alleged he was a member of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.

In sentencing him to a head sentence of eight years for trafficking, Judge Rafter said the now 35-year old “took a lead role” in the weed ring which smuggled cannabis from South Australia hidden in a “false wall” in a trailer attached to a truck.

The ring made five truck runs between August and November 2021 to smuggle an amount of drugs which “cannot be definitively determined”.

Adam Christopher White.

“A person identified as Wayne Higgins operated the truck on behalf of the syndicate,” Judge Rafter said.

“He drove the vehicle interstate and returned with the trailer concealing the cannabis that the syndicate had purchased from interstate suppliers,” he said.

“Based on the movements of Mr Higgins leaving and returning to Queensland, police identified five instances when truck runs occurred,” he said.

After the fifth truck run on November 21, 2021 police swooped on a home in Mackenzie, in Brisbane’s southeast, where the truck had been left and they found 78.32kg of cannabis worth $480,000 in 175 vacuumed sealed bags.

Adam White was sentenced for his part in a drugs, money and firearms syndicate. Picture: Police Media

Inside the house police found $239,910 in cash and $10,900 in counterfeit notes.

Police also found $437,950 in cash hidden in an Esky in a roof cavity at White’s parents house in Carindale – which he listed as his parole address – and $4000 in his car.

White claimed he was unemployed at this time and had “no source of income”, prosecutor Zachary Kaplan submitted to the court, describing the crime as “commercially motivated and cynical”.

White also arranged for “dead drops” of cash to be left in various locations as part of his role as boss of the ring.

Partner in crime, Bradley Graham Potts, was jailed for ten years in March for smuggling 400kg of weed with an estimated street value of $2.4m, the court heard.

“The trafficking involved highly organised criminal activity … considerable sophistication and was commercially motivated,” Judge Rafter said.

Police found almost $700,000 in cash.

White’s barrister Tony Kimmins submitted that his client was sorry for his crime and said the $437,950 belonged to the ring and not to White personally.

He also said that his client no longer belonged to a bikie gang, and had a young child in a stable relationship.

White gave “favourable character references” to the court.

Judge Rafter took into account the 517 days White spent in presentence custody, due to a discontinued extortion charge, in sentencing him to eight years jail with parole eligibility by March 6 next year.

The maximum sentence for drug trafficking is 25 years.