Sixth young man charged over alleged Shellharbour party drug syndicate
Police have charged a sixth person after smashing a Shellharbour drug syndicate that was allegedly run by a group of young men.
Illawarra Star
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Police have charged a sixth young man in relation to a “sophisticated” party drug syndicate allegedly operating the Shellharbour region, responsible for the sale and distribution of thousands of dollars’ worth of cocaine and MDMA.
Brodie Bridge, 21, was arrested at his Shellharbour home on Monday and hit with nine charges related to the supply of drugs, after police smashed the alleged syndicate after a 10-month investigation last week.
The young father appeared in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday, where Magistrate Susan McGowan refused his application for bail.
Kieran Daniels, 27, Ryan McAllister, 18, Joshua Kemper, 21, and Jarrod Turk, 21, were also refused bail by Magistrate Susan McGowan last week, after they too were arrested and charged with multiple drug supply offences.
A fifth man, aged 19, who was also arrested and charged with two counts of possess prohibited drugs last week was granted bail by police, and is due to face Port Kembla Local Court on November 13.
Investigators pounced on the alleged offender during alleged drug transactions at Albion Park McDonalds and a Shellharbour address last Thursday evening.
According to police facts tendered to the court on Tuesday, police began investigating the “sophisticated” syndicate in January, establishing Strike Force Tulare to look into the supply of prohibited drugs at licensed premises across the Shellharbour region.
During the investigation, court documents say police recorded some of the men selling drugs to people in or around well-known pubs including Ocean Beach Hotel and the Central Hotel.
Over the course of the investigation, police allegedly recorded Bridge selling party drugs like cocaine and MDMA on multiple occasions, using informants to facilitate the transactions.
On one occasion in August, police allege in court documents that Bridge agreed to sell a police informant $2500 worth of MDMA. After negotiations with the customer, Bridge allegedly dropped the price to $2200 for an ounce, or 29 grams, of the drug, and later to $2150.
When the customer arrived to pick up the drugs, court documents allege Bridge told the informant he had already paid his upline supplier for the drugs, and that the cash he was paid was “going straight into his bank account”.
Police will allege that between July 5 and 26, Bridge supplied cocaine and MDMA to customers on at least three occasions for personal financial gain. The following month, between August 8 and 27, it will be alleged the 21-year-old supplied drugs to customers on at least three occasions, selling 35.9 grams of MDMA to police informants.
On Tuesday, the court heard Bridge worked as a chef at a cafe in Shellharbour Village, and that he had a small child and partner he supported financially.
Despite this, Magistrate McGowan refused his application for bail, telling the court there was a strong case against him.
Following the arrests, Lake Illawarra Police District Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Glen Broadhead said the supply of prohibited drugs would not be tolerated by police, and that more arrests will be made in the coming weeks.
“We have a very clear message for anyone who is considering supplying prohibited drugs: this is only the tip of the iceberg,” Inspector Broadhead said.
“Our drug unit will continue to investigate those who choose to do the wrong thing, and they will face the full brunt of the law.”
Inspector Broadhead said he was “gravely concerned” over the ages of the young men arrested in relation to the syndicate.
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“The age of the people that we’ve arrested so far is of grave concern to us in that they are simply young men, aged around 18-years-of-age,” he said.
“It’s something we haven’t really come across here for sometime and it is certainly something we will be looking at as to where and how they’ve become involved in this type of behaviour.”
Bridge will next appear in court in January while his co-accused are set to return to court tomorrow.