Patricia Koullias: Dark web drug syndicate made $17 million over 10,500 transactions

A south coast court has heard what lead a young woman to become involved in a drug syndicate selling LSD, cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines and Xanax on the internet.

Patricia (left) and her sister Shanese Koullias, who will be sentenced in February. Picture: Facebook

A south coast dental assistant has cried after being told she will be paroled over her role in a $17 million dark web drug syndicate.

Patricia Koullias, 22 of Quakers Hill, pleaded guilty earlier this year to three counts of supplying an indictable quantity of a prohibited drug and participating in a criminal group contributing to criminal activity.

Koullias broke down in tears when NSW District Court Judge Robyn Tupman sentenced her via audio visual link to three years in prison with a non-parole period of 22 months on Monday, meaning with time served she would be released.

Koullias was arrested in February, 2018, alongside her 24-year-old sister Shanese Koullias, of Callala Bay, and the syndicate’s mastermind Cody Ward, 25, of Callala Beach, over what the court heard was one of the “largest and most successful” dark web drug syndicates in Australia.

Cody Ward will be sentenced next year for his role in the $17 million drug syndicate. Picture: Instagram

“Drug use is rampant and plays havoc on our community,” Judge Tupman told Koullias during sentencing.

Judge Tupman said while the dark web had been created for legitimate uses by the US navy, it had since been co-opted by people wanting to sell firearms, child abuse material and illegal drugs.

The court heard the syndicate had 10,500 successful transactions.

The court also heard Koullias was recruited by her sister a few months before her arrest after coming into money problems after a break-up with her partner, and was paid $100 per hour for a few hours a week to package LSD, imported by Ward, before posting it to various addresses.

The court heard Koullias, who appeared via video link from Dillwynia Correctional Centre, had known Ward in high school, but was unaware of the extent of his offending, and Ward was not aware she had been recruited by her sister.

Judge Tupman said Koullias was involved at a “low level”, and would from “time to time” be paid extra to post other drugs including cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines, DMT and Xanax.

Shanese Koullias will be sentenced next year for her role in the dark web drug syndicate. Picture: Facebook

She said Koullias was “by far and away the least involved” of the three in the operation which used the “privacy and anonymity” of the dark web to supply illegal drugs from 2011 across five marketplaces, with Ward using the pseudonym NSWGreat.

The Koullias sisters worked together posting orders to post boxes in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven, the court heard.

Judge Tupman said Koullias was using Xanax and Valium daily at the time of her arrest, and using LSD and MDMA, which was supported by Ward’s syndicate.

The court heard police ordered 1425 doses of LSD from the syndicate, before Koullias’s arrest at her Quakers Hill home.

Judge Tupman said Koullias had told police during an interview she was involved, but there was no evidence she knew the extent of the empire, or made any decisions within the syndicate.

She said Koullias has strong prospects of rehabilitation, and her “good character” and lack of a previous criminal record was motivation for her sister to recruit her.

The court heard Shanese Koullias recruited her sister into the multi-million dollar dark web drug syndicate. Picture: Facebook

The court heard Koullias had been exposed to domestic violence from a young age, and took a job at a takeaway restaurant as a teenager to escape her home life.

The court heard she had been physically assaulted by her father after his release of a psychiatric hospital, and sexually abused by an older man at the age of 15, and has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

Judge Tupman said Koullias felt guilt surrounding her sister’s arrest after discussing details of the operation, but was not aware the trio were under surveillance.

Cody Ward is scheduled to be sentenced on February 12, 2021.

Shanese Koullias will also be sentenced in February.