West Gosford: Drug cook Anthony Steven Refalo jailed for making 1.8kg of ‘ice’ after blaming mystery ‘Mr R’

A chippy said he was forced into “cooking” meth after a mystery “Mr R” threatened to kidnap his brother if he didn’t pay off a drug debt. But here’s why his wild excuse went up in smoke.

Anthony Steven Refalo outside Gosford District Court at a previous appearance. Picture: NewsLocal

A carpenter with a successful small business was forced into cooking 1.8kg of meth — by following instructions and on just his second attempt — after receiving anonymous, ambiguous threats towards his brother who supposedly owed a large drug debt, a court has heard.

Anthony Steven Refalo, of Umina Beach, faced Gosford District Court last week after pleading guilty to manufacturing a large commercial quantity of drugs, possessing more than 27kg of precursor chemicals used to make drugs, supplying ice and dealing with $31,000 being the proceeds of crime.

At his sentencing hearing in April, his barrister said the 37-year-old was acting under “non-exculpatory duress” and forced into becoming an unlikely drug cook to try and save his brother from harm.

The court heard Refalo was stopped as he walked out of Woolworths Umina Beach some time in early 2019 and handed a piece of paper with a number on it.

He was told to contact an anonymous stranger via the encrypted app Cypher, which the court heard initiated a series of “heated” messages with a person he only knew by the handle “Mr R”.

Anthony Refalo said he was stopped outside Woolworths Umina Beach and handed a piece of paper with a number on it. Picture: Peter Clark

The court heard Refalo’s younger brother, Jamie, had a longstanding drug problem.

Giving evidence, Anthony Refalo told the court he was never explicitly threatened during the exchanges but was sent a picture of an “assault rifle”.

Anthony Refalo was sentenced to a minimum two years and three months jail. Picture: NewsLocal

He said he took this as a warning to either follow a set of instructions and cook meth in order to pay off his brother’s drug debt of about $60,000-$70,000 or his brother would be kidnapped and possibly killed.

Refalo said he met an unknown man at Kariong who gave him all the equipment and precursors to make a batch of ice, but the first attempt “didn’t boil” and ended up as a solid biscuit at the bottom of a 3L flask.

The court heard he was midway through his second attempt in a West Gosford factory some months later on October 12, 2019, when a patrolling police car happened to be passing by and noticed his ute pull into an industrial driveway late at night.

Police found a clandestine lab in the West Gosford factory. (File image)

They stopped and asked what he was up to and found him acting nervous and “sweating profusely”, an agreed set of facts states.

Police found six bags of ice in his ute and the clandestine lab in the factory with 1.8kg of meth, along with more than 27kg of precursor chemicals including iodine and hypophosphorous acid.

A few days later they raided his home and found a further 27.99g of meth and $31,000 cash.

Refalo told the court he’d won $15,000 at The Star casino but despite it being a considerable amount of money, he didn’t think to offer it to “Mr R” to help settle his brother’s debt.

The court heard his brother had since died but it was not suspicious.

Judge Tanya Bright said there simply was “not enough evidence” to support Refalo’s elaborate defence of duress or any evidence at all to corroborate his interactions with “Mr R”.

She said Refalo had a successful business, didn’t think to offer his winnings, never went to the police about the alleged threats — even after his arrest — and there was “no correlation” between how much his brother supposedly owed and the “significant amount” of drugs to be produced.

She sentenced Refalo, who had been on bail since his arrest, to four years and seven months jail with a non-parole period of two years and three months.