Black Diamond Barber Shop owner Troy Upward pleads guilty to commercial drug supply
A camera-shy barber cut thousands of dollars off the top from cocaine deals finalised from within his northern Illawarra salon, court documents reveal.
Illawarra Star
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A camera-shy barber cut thousands of dollars off the top from cocaine deals finalised from within his northern Illawarra salon, court documents reveal.
Troy Upward, who owns the Black Diamond Barber Shop, faced Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to commercial drug supply and dealing with crime proceeds.
Court documents state Upward, 42, sold nearly 300g of cocaine to someone characterised as “Witness 2” with the illicit substances allegedly being sourced from Woonona man Zieke Francis Lyons.
The investigation which led to the arrests of Upward and Lyons came under the banner Strike Force Fredericton and involved covert surveillance of the duo between June and November, 2023.
Documents state the investigation involved monitoring of phones as well as Upward’s Woonona barber shop.
The operation caught Upward acquiring drugs, allegedly from Lyons, and onselling them to Witness 2 on five instances.
Documents state these deals would involve Upward purchasing about 55g – or two bags – of coke for $14,000 before selling it to Witness 2 for a tidy $2000 profit.
On one occasion in late October, 2023, documents state Upward contacted Lyons and said: “He (Witness 2) and he is coming down Thursday to pick it up.”
Lyons allegedly said: “Alright bro I’ll organise it.”
The documents state in November there was another conversation between the pair where Lyons allegedly said he had “two” which refers to two bags of cocaine.
Upward supplied a total of 286g of cocaine with all the deals with Witness 2 taking place at the Black Diamond.
Police raided the barber shop on November 23, 2023, where they seized $16,000 in dirty cash from the register with a further search warrant of Upward’s home in Mangerton yielding a further $6950.
Lyons, who previously pleaded not guilty to commercial drug supply, will face Wollongong District Court later this month when a trial date sometime in or beyond the second half of 2025 is likely to be set.
Upward will be sentenced at Wollongong District Court in 2025.
Got a court yarn? Email dylan.arvela@news.com.au
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