Benjamin Zaubzer: Western Sydney drug dealer model jailed
To his friends he was the handsome western Sydney model who still lived at home with his mum. But unbeknown to them he was dealing huge quantities of party drugs from the family home. Now the 38-year-old faces up to nine years in jail.
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A male model who dealt more than 30 litres of the drug liquid fantasy to undercover police from his mum’s suburban home has been jailed for at least five years.
Benjamin Gordon Zaubzer will not be eligible for parole until September 2024 after Judge Sharron Norton convicted the 38-year-old on seven charges last week, including commercial drug supply.
Zaubzer, whose online profile details his work as a model and make-up artist, was arrested in May last year after police raided his western Sydney residence, which had been at the centre of a months’ long undercover police investigation.
The court heard Zaubzer faced a life sentence after dealing 33kg – more than eight times the large commercial quantity – of the drug GBL, commonly known as liquid fantasy, to undercover officers between September 2018 and March 2019.
He also supplied MDMA in smaller quantities, dealing with almost $226,000 in payments.
At a sentencing hearing in Parramatta District Court last month, defence barrister Ben Clark told the court Zaubzer was dealing the drugs from his mother’s home.
“$19,000 in cash was found at the finish of these proceedings but it’s certainly not the case that Mr Zaubzer was living the high life,” Mr Clark said.
“As far as a drug dealer is concerned, he’s not a particularly successful one, taking into account the fact he was living at home with his mother.
“The fact he was dealing from his own mother’s home shows a degree of naivety.”
He said Zaubzer acted as the front man of a larger drug supply ring which he fell into after suffering a brain injury in a car accident in 2017.
“It is quite apparent that he was working at the street level. He was the shopfront but had to go out the back to the other people running the warehouse to bring what was ordered to the purchaser,” he said.
“The orders became of an ever-increasing size from the one litres to the five litres and eventually to the 10 litres.”
Mr Clark said the offending was mitigated by the fact none of the drugs made their way onto the streets.
“Every single one of these transactions was conducted at the behest of undercover operatives,” he said.
“There is a mitigating factor that none of this stuff actually ended up in the community being used.
“If you look through the fact sheet, you can see the continued pursuit by the undercover officers of Mr Zaubzer.
“Mr Zaubzer was of course a willing participant in relation to assisting (the officers) but it was at their instigation – they appeared to be chasing him far more often than he was chasing them.”
He said Zaubzer showed “naivety” in his role in the supply ring, offering up his personal mobile number and bank account details in the deals.
However, the Crown prosecutor argued that while the Zaubzer’s operation was “not particularly sophisticated”, there was still a degree of planned criminal activity.
“The sustained period of time, the significant quantities and the cash involved are the significant factors,” he said.
“Communications surrounding the supplies involved the use of codes and there were a couple of different apps that were used, including WhatsApp and Wickr.
“He was essentially at the street level dealing with the undercover officer for whom he was the first port of call in obtaining the drugs.
“Mr Zaubzer was having to obtain the drugs from some other place so he was lower down in the hierarchy.”
The court heard Mr Zaubzer had a clean criminal record and had established a successful career in the tourism industry and as the manager of a car rental company.
Zaubzer pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to a maximum of nine years’ jail, with a non-parole period of five years and four months.