Ryan Watsford had cocaine sent to Sydney mansions for US syndicate
Ryan Watsford was a wheeler and dealer on the Eastern Suburbs real estate scene. So when a US syndicate wanted to post cocaine to Australia, he did it in style – gaining access to some of the country’s most exclusive properties.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Before he had his eyebrows ripped off by John Ibrahim, Ryan Watsford used his real estate contacts to have cocaine posted to an empty mansion in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs for a US drug syndicate.
And it wasn’t just any mansion.
The former real estate agent sourced a Rose Bay property that made headlines as one of Australia’s most expensive houses when it sold in 2016 for $16.8 million.
According to documents tendered in the Downing Centre District Court, eight packages containing 985g of cocaine were sent to “Hayes Alan” at 26 Tivoli Ave, Rose Bay, in July 2016.
The man who was to pick up the cocaine was Walter Agulia, 29, who flew into Sydney from California a week earlier and told Customs he was “in Australia to see a friend that he went to college with”, the documents said.
The details emerged in police documents tendered to Agulia’s court case before he was jailed over the cocaine smuggling plot.
Police watched on as Watsford picked up Agulia from the airport at 7.35am in an Audi A4 before taking his friend to the Savoy Hotel in Double Bay where a room was booked under the name “Brian”.
MORE FROM BRENDEN HILLS
Toddler sues state after being ‘strip searched’ by police
Socialite thought he’d been ‘robbed’ as cops set coke trap
On July 2, Watsford called the owner of the Tivoli Ave property who told him she would be moving out in six days.
Australian Federal Police intercepted the packages of cocaine on July 13, 2016, at the Australia Post facility at Alexandria, the documents said.
The A4 sized envelopes contained 985g of cocaine that was 60 per cent pure and had a street value of almost $350,000.
The officers then replaced the cocaine with an inert substance and allowed the package to continue to Tivoli Ave.
Watsford and Agulia attempted to pick up the package on July 15, the documents said.
At 11.14am, Agulia approached a postman and took the package after it was placed in the mailbox.
Police arrested Agulia. Watsford, who was in the Audi further up the street, was not arrested.
Officers searched a room Agulia’s room at the Coogee Sands where they found his pass[passport, $115,000 cash and three Travelex debit cards with almost $29,000.
On Agulia’s phone, police found a photo of three US Postal Service receipts relating to packages that had been sent to 26 Tivoli Ave, Rose Bay, 51 Towns Rd, Vaucluse, and 22 Chisholm St, Darlinghurst.
On June 27, 2016, police intercepted a phone call where Watsford asked Double Bay Real Estate agent David Malouf if any agents were holding any vacant properties, the documents said.
Malouf, who isn’t accused of any wrongdoing or knowledge of Watsford’s plan, recommended the property at 51 Towns Rd, Vaucluse, and Watsford asked three times if it was vacant, the documents said.
Police also recorded Watsford telling his mother he found a rental property on Chisholm St, Darlinghurst.
After Agulia’s arrest, police examined his phone and found two videos that showed packages that had been delivered to the address.
On April 24, 2018, Agulia was sentenced to a minimum of two years and six months jail on charges of possessing a marketable quantity of cocaine and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Watsford has pleaded guilty to charges relating to the cocaine and is currently being sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court.
The ex Cranbrook student was also arrested over a separate syndicate alongside Michael Ibrahim that smuggled millions of illegal cigarettes and MDMA. Both have pleaded guilty.
Watsford hit the headlines recently when a video emerged of him having his eyebrows waxed off by John Ibrahim as punishment for stealing money from the King Cross identity’s younger brother, Michael.