Christopher Aaron Pedler jailed for more than four years for selling meth to lower-level Adelaide dealers

A mid-tier meth dealer has been jailed after selling drugs to lower dealers, with intercepted phone calls revealing all their secret code words.

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Intercepted phone calls and texts have revealed secret codewords used by a mid-level meth dealer, as he was jailed for more than four years.

Christopher Aaron Pedler, 41, faced the District Court last month for sentencing after being found guilty by a jury of 13 counts of drug trafficking between October 2018 and July 2019.

He was acquitted of seven further counts on the basis it could not be proved the drug he was trafficking was meth, and not cannabis, to which he had been addicted.

Judge Emily Telfer said Pedler, a father of three, sold meth to lower-level dealers who collected it from a property on Hammond Ave in Adelaide’s south between – allowing him to handle payment without possessing the drugs.

Those dealers split the meth and sold it to others, she said.

Evidence against him included recorded phone calls and text messages, camera surveillance of the Hammond Ave property, and searches of properties the jury found was linked to his dealing.

His counsel argued during sentencing submissions there was no evidence about the quantity of drugs involved, or a dollar value.

Judge Emily Telfer said Pedler, who did not accept the jury’s verdict, used code words with multiple buyers, including ‘fishing reels’ and ‘cars’.

In late October or early November 2018 he sold meth to a woman using the code ‘tyres’, she said.

“You sold methamphetamine … for the purpose of her selling it to others. The quantity was sufficient for her to make on-sales to more than one customer,” Judge Telfer said.

Another sale referred to “a few fishing reels”, she said.

“I am satisfied that the two of you discussed money that was owed to you … using the codes ‘pilly’ and ‘bait’.”

In May 2019, he discussed selling ‘cars’ with a third onseller, who said she had “people waiting for her and she is getting nagged”.

“The purpose of this transaction was for you to sell it to her for her to onsell to others. I am satisfied that the methamphetamine being sold was described as a ‘big car’, but, again, I cannot be sure of the quantity.”

That same month used “coded language” referring to ‘going fishing’ and ‘fishing reels’, while a client buying meth “referred to ‘10-pound braid’.”

“Again, I cannot be satisfied about the amount of methamphetamine that is being discussed and I do not conclude that in fact 10 pounds was transacted,” Judge Telfer said.

“The nature of the discussions satisfy me that this transaction was not isolated and … (he) was a customer of yours on other occasions.”

In July 2019, Pedler referred to ‘borrowing a dress’ and ‘catching up for a feed’ twice with another “regular”.

“Each party to the transaction appeared to understand what the code was referring to,” Judge Telfer said.

In sentencing, Her Honour said Pedler – a serious repeat offender – was motivated by profit and did not fit criteria for a street-level dealer.

“You were selling quantities sufficient to be broken down and onsold at street level,” she said.

“There is no evidence that your trafficking was tied to funding an all-consuming addiction to drugs of whatever kind.”

Judge Telfer jailed Pedler for four years, eight months and 18 days’ with a non-parole period of three years, four months and 12 days.

She said his offending was too serious to warrant suspending that sentence, which she backdated to November 6, 2024.

Originally published as Christopher Aaron Pedler jailed for more than four years for selling meth to lower-level Adelaide dealers