High flying Hamilton drug queen fighting prisons in highest court

A Queensland drug trafficker described as ‘the brains’ behind an operation run from a home in one of Brisbane’s wealthiest suburbs is continuing a fight to freeze her eggs from behind bars.

IVF (in vitro fertilisation) or insemination of female egg with microscope

A Queensland drug trafficker described as the “architect” and “the brains” of a $1m drug ring run from a luxury home has appealed a court ruling knocking back her bid to freeze her eggs.

Rachel Antoinette Smith, who is serving a decade behind bars, filed an appeal in the state’s highest court before Christmas.

She took her fight to court after the chief executive of Queensland Corrective Services knocked back her application for egg freezing.

Smith, 33, who is in Numinbah prison, in the Gold Coast hinterland, will be eligible for parole, at the earliest, on July 13, 2029 when she will be 39 years old.

She is seeking to overturn the ruling by Supreme Court Justice Tom Sullivan who concluded on November 27 that the state’s Corrective Services Act bans Ms Smith from applying for access to medical examinations and treatment for the extraction and freezing of her eggs.

She argues the decision compromises her ability to have children.

Mackay-born Smith lived in a luxury resort-style Hamilton home overlooking the Brisbane River and drove a Mercedes while selling drugs in 2019.

The rented Hamilton home where Smith ran her drug empire.

She kept drugs hidden at the Hamilton home – which boasts an internal lift and now rents for $2,100 a week – when running her drug business with a $1m turnover over 11-weeks between 15 December 2018 and 11 April 2019.

Smith and junior partner, Lawrence Cheers, who was aged 21 at the time, registered a business name in late March 2019 and leased a fashionable Racecourse Rd shop in up-market Hamilton to operate as a barber shop and a homewares store.

Smith opened Cleo and Louis Barber, at 68 Racecourse Road in August 2019, and it later turned into a shop selling designer garden pots.

They told an associate that the purpose was to “get money running through” the business and to give an air of legitimacy to their drug trafficking income.

Smith remains a shareholder in Cleo and Louis Pty Ltd, a company which she ran with Cheers.

The pair were supplied with methylamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine, GHB and cannabis on credit by a crime ring and they on-sold the drugs with Smith directing nine “runners” to deliver drugs via messages on encrypted phones.

The view from the Hamilton home.

Between 21 January and 16 March 2019 they arranged 750 supplies, including 1.625kg of cocaine, 1.5kg of methylamphetamine, more than half a kilogram of MDMA powder and 720 MDMA pills, along with significant quantities of other drugs.

Their profit was at least $343,528, and Smith was entitled to 65 per cent of the business’ profits, the court heard.

Smith and Cheers both pleaded guilty to a charge of drug trafficking.

Cheers received a sentence of nine years’ imprisonment, with eligibility for parole after three years

Smith was sentenced to ten years’ jail by Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Wilson on July 13, 2021, with an automatic Serious Violent Offender declaration forcing her to serve eight years before being eligible for parole.

Justice Wilson described her as “the architect” and “the brains” of the trafficking ring.

Her lawyer, Andrew Owens, told the court that Smith’s mother would fund the egg freezing treatment if her legal case is successful as Smith only had $25,000 from shutting down her lawful business before she was jailed.

The procedure Smith wishes to undergo takes about a fortnight and consists of a series of injections followed by a 30 minute surgical procedure, court documents state.

It may require one or two repeats to ensure there are enough eggs, according to Gold Coast obstetrician Michael Flynn, who wrote a letter filed in court.