NSW drug crimes: The drug dealers and suppliers sent to prison

From a suburban mum using her beauty business as a front to a Bitcoin baron who dealt designer-branded drugs, these are some of the NSW drug kingpins police have stopped. Read the full list.

Police are fighting to stop drug dealers in their tracks.

But every day NSW’s courtrooms remain flooded with people caught up in the importation, manufacturing and supply of drugs.

The methods of these criminals vary — from a Bitcoin baron who dealt designer-branded drugs to a suburban mum who used her beauty product business as a front for narcotics.

Latest Bureau of Crime (BOCSAR) statistics report a shocking 47,282 criminal incidents related to drugs — including possession — over 2021.

“Amphetamines are the most common drug type in deal/traffic drug offences recorded by NSW police, followed by cocaine and cannabis,” a BOCSAR spokeswoman said.

“(Importantly) these types of offences tend to be those detected by police rather than reported.

“Therefore, the trends shown may be more indicative of policing operations than the … (number of actual) incidences.”

According to a spokeswoman from the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australia is an attractive target for “transnational serious and organised crime” (TSOC) because of the high cost of illegal drugs here.

AFP officers are based in 32 countries around the world and use their international relationships to track down drug schemes.

“The offshore disruption of criminal groups and infiltration of TSOC is a key part … of the solution,” the spokeswoman said.

“The majority of methamphetamine and heroin imported into Australia is produced in the Mekong region of South East Asia,” the spokeswoman said.

“Prominent transhipment routes of South East Asian manufactured drugs include Malaysia, Laos and Thailand.

“Mexico presents the second greatest persistent threat for methamphetamine production.”

Below are ten of the most shocking drug schemes AFP and NSW police officers have foiled over the past 12 months.

James Calleja

James Calleja.

At the top of a party drug syndicate sat a Bonnyrigg local.

This April James Calleja copped a hefty seven years and six months behind bars for his role supplying drugs across Sydney’s nightclub and rave scene.

He pleaded guilty to supplying commercial quantities of drugs and knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group, among other drug supply charges.

At his sentencing, the court heard Calleja first began using drugs at the age of 12 and was significantly affected by his parents divorce.

He smoked pot at age 12 because it made him feel “euphoric” and soon moved onto harder drugs, such as cocaine, LSD and MDMA.

Judge Dina Yehia told the court Calleja’s drug running operation was not “sophisticated” but his offending conduct must still be punished.

“Although (the operation) was not sophisticated, the offender … was the source of drugs for the “runners”, and in that sense he was an upline supplier,” Judge Yehia said.

Having already served time in prison, the earliest Calleja could be released is September 4, 2024.

Toni Millevoi

Toni Millevoi.

A suburban mum who imported GBL, packaged as eyelash remover, via her Cobbitty-based beauty business tearfully told a court how she felt “really stupid” for her criminal acts.

Toni Renee Millevoi, 50, pleaded guilty to importing and trafficking a commercial quantity of the border-controlled drug GBL.

One of her biggest sellers, the court heard, was the liquid and gel eyelash remover which had the ingredient butyrolactone on the label.

But Millevoi’s scheme became unstuck on her 48th birthday, when an undercover police officer arrived at her home and bought 2kg of eyelash remover for $1958 in cash.

In court, Millevoi became emotional when asked about how she felt about her crimes.

“I feel absolutely terrible,” she said. “I don’t understand drugs. When I read about it I feel so responsible that the drugs were out on the street and in such large quantities and could be ruining families. I think about if it is children taking (the drugs). There is just so much that goes through my mind, I have no words.

“I feel very responsible. I feel stupid, I feel really stupid.”

In October 2021, Millevoi was sentenced to a two year and six month prison sentence to be served in the community. She was also fined $10,000.

At her sentencing, Judge Robert Montgomery said the matter was “unique” with no other case in the history of Australian jurisdiction like it.

Cody Ward

Cody Ward.

This baby-faced south coast kingpin used the dark web to sell drugs worth about $17 million.

Cody Ronald Ward, 27, known as dark web vendor ‘NSWGreat’, pleaded guilty to three counts of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and three counts of supplying a prohibited drug greater than a commercial quantity.

At his sentencing, Judge Robyn Tupman told the court Ward’s sophisticated cryptocurrency business conducted 10,500 transactions, becoming the longest running dark web drug vendor in Australia.

The court heard Ward ordered the drugs from overseas before posting them across the Shoalhaven and Illawarra to pseudonyms including “Angus Harris”, “Oliver White”, “George Smith” and “Luke Dennison”.

Ward had previously pleaded guilty to importing 1651.99g of MDMA, 1916.5g of amphetamine and 88,308 tabs of LSD between 2018 and 2019.

He also pleaded guilty to supplying 2759 tabs of LSD, 1.19kg of amphetamine and 225g of MDMA.

For his crimes, in May 2021 Ward was sentenced to 14 years behind bars, with a non-parole period of 10 years.

Jacqueline Naous

Jacqueline Naous.

A young mum sold drugs over 300 times in what was described as a “Deliveroo for cocaine” dial-a-dealer syndicate.

The Downing Centre District Court heard Liverpool local Jacqueline Naous claimed to be the “admin” head of the operation, vetting cocaine customers and organising a fleet of couriers to deliver the drug around Sydney.

Customers would send texts to a phone controlled by Naous using codes like “drinks” in the place of drugs.

In some cases, Naous was responsible for handling customer complaints about the quality of the drugs and, in one instance, she offered a discount to one punter who came back with a bad review, the court heard.

Naous pleaded guilty to two counts of ongoing drug supply. In November 2021, she received a two year jail sentence to be served in the community by means of an intensive corrections order.

Josiah Burton Flanagan

Josiah Burton.

This man was supposed to be managing his mother’s rental properties but instead allowed them to be used as drug warehouses, a court heard.

Redfern drug supplier Josiah Burton Flanagan, 34, pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly taking part in commercial drug supply across two Phillip St apartments.

A court heard these two units belonged to his mother Lynette Flanagan who had left them in his hands after retiring in Mudgee.

Flanagan’s scheme all fell apart when NSW Fire and Rescue (NFR) were called to one of the apartments.

After removing two smoking trays from an oven, the NFR officers observed a bowl and tray of crystallised substance, a court heard.

For his crimes, Flanagan was sentenced to five years and six months jail, with a non-parole period of two years and nine months, in October 2021. He will be eligible for parole this Christmas Eve.

Deborah Adamson

Deborah Adamson.

A drug dealing grandmother was involved in the sale of more than $420,000 of meth across Sydney’s south west.

Deborah Adamson, 60, ran a “drug house” from 2020 to February 2021 with a constant stream of visitors, a court heard.

Adamson pleaded guilty to her role in a syndicate which operated across Liverpool, Bossley Park, Heckenberg and Bonnyrigg.

Over the space of a year, police estimate this drug syndicate supplied ice around 5600 times.

In court, Adamson’s role was described as akin to low level drug delivery, although police allege the 60-year-old has ties to the Hells Angels bikie gang.

Court documents reveal her conviction likely came as a surprise. When asked by a friend about her drug dealing, Adamson said “don’t worry”, adding if she was caught: “I’ll just get (put on the) MERIT (treatment program) again”.

Despite bragging she would get away, the law caught up with this grandmother and, in July 2021, she was jailed for 21 months.

Dov Tenenboim

Dov Tenenboim.

A Bitcoin drug baron, who flooded Sydney’s east with designer-branded drugs, told his family “it is what it is” after he was given at least a decade in prison.

Dov Tenenboim was arrested after police unravelled his “sophisticated” and “persistent” drug import business, NSW District Court Judge Ian McClintock SC said at his sentencing.

A European underworld figure, known by the pseudonym Mike Allen, helped Tenenboim procure his illicit wares from abroad for the first year via the dark web, the court heard.

The operation relied on sophisticated technology and a simple strategy — the drugs would arrive in Sydney hidden in candles or baby formula, addressed to fake names in the city’s east.

Tenenboim’s “agents” would then retrieve the packages for their boss before they were repackaged and sent to customers across Australia’s eastern seaboard.

For a while, kilograms of drugs — cocaine, MDMA and ketamine — largely escaped detection by the authorities, the court heard.

But when police raided Allen’s apartment they found thousands of pills and piles of powder — the substances were pressed into colourful tablets like blue and green “Versaces”, pink “Pokemons” and camel shaped MDMA.

Bolivian cocaine and Columbian cocaine were stored separately, as was the ketamine.

In September 2021, Tenenboim was given 16 years and four months prison with a non parole period of 10 and a half years.