Police reveal how they smashed alleged drug syndicate
AUTHORITIES watched on as the driver for accused drug kingpin Corey Magee boarded a plane from the Gold Coast to stitch up a $210,000 cocaine deal in Bunnings car park in Sydney.
NSW
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AUTHORITIES watched on as the driver for accused drug kingpin Corey Magee boarded a plane from the Gold Coast to stitch up a $210,000 cocaine deal in Sydney, police will allege.
Jesse Vilkelis-Curas would allegedly meet a police witness at a Bunnings car park in the Western Sydney suburb of Greenacre on Friday, April 13.
POLICE SMASH PRISONS ‘DRUG IMPORTATION SYNDICATE’
The police witness had allegedly been taping and recording all of his conversations with Magee since their first meeting in February.
It was allegedly the third attempt Magee, a Bilinga shed builder, had at delivering 1kg of cocaine to the police witness.
The first was thwarted when his driver was picked up by police driving a rental car on the Pacific Hwy just north of Newcastle, police will allege. They claim to have found $100,000 cash in the car.
Police will allege a second deal was thwarted when Magee’s supplier, a Fink bikie, was arrested in March.
In a car outside Bunnings on Black Friday, Vilkelis-Curas and the witness communicated to Magee through an encrypted phone application called Wickr, police will allege.
It is alleged Magee used the name “born4thegame” and Vilkelis-Curas “dontusethis” after ditching his previous name, “hard2find”, months earlier.
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A second police witness allegedly turned up at Bunnings for the men to count the money.
There was $210,000, “born4thegame” allegedly told the witness using the app. Vilkelis-Curas’ cut would be $15,000, police allege.
Vilkelis-Curas was allegedly told to demand $20,000 off the supplier once the deal was done. That would be Magee’s cut.
Vilkelis-Curas and the first police witness then allegedly took a three-minute cruise to meet the supplier of the cocaine. The letters XXX was stamped on the brick of cocaine that the supplier carried as he stepped into the car, police will allege. The supplier allegedly handed over the coke and started counting the cash, each bundle worth $5000, police allege.
He then allegedly pulled out four bundles of cash and gave them to Vilkelis-Curas, earmarked for Magee.
Police allege they tested the brick of cocaine and it contained 76 per cent purity and weighed 0.995kg.
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THE ARREST
Before his 26th birthday, Corey Magee had allegedly told a police witness he could organise a drug meet, use runners and ultimately score 1kg of cocaine.
The Tweed shed business man, originally from Lismore, told the informant he could supply other drugs too, police will allege.
After communicating through encrypted messages the witness ordered 1kg of MDMA, costing $46,000, police allege.
On Tuesday, NSW Police raided Magee’s Bilinga apartment and properties in Byron Bay and Lismore.
Magee was arrested in Chinderah. His father Mark Stanley Magee was arrested in Byron Bay.
Vilkelis-Curas was arrested in Lismore.
THE ‘FIRST’ MEETING
Corey Magee allegedly first met a police witness in a small house in Byron Bay on February 7. “Magee provided the male with his blackberry email address and indicated he could 1kg of cocaine for $210,000 or multiple kilograms of cocaine at $205,000,” police allege.
“Magee indicated he used a driver to do his deliveries as he does not like to do face-to-face meets or put his hands on the drugs”.
Police will allege the witness made arrangements to buy 1kg of cocaine and that he was told that communications would be through encrypted messaging via a BlackBerry mobile phone.
‘DRUGS IN PRISONS’
Among the charges laid against Magee were supplying Buprenorphine, an opioid-based drug used to ween people of heroin and methadone, to a jail at Nowra.
Police allege Magee supplied those drugs into the South Coast Correctional Centre at Nowra. “Magee was also identified as facilitating the supply of Buprenorphine into correctional facilities within NSW,” police allege.
