Nathan Baggaley, Matthew Doyle, Damion Flower among NSW drug kingpins |Full list
A former Olympian turned drug smuggler is only one of the state’s most notable drug kingpins – a list which includes a dark web hacker and an international drug boss. Here is how each of them got busted.
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A former Olympian turned drug smuggler is only one of the state’s most notable drug kingpins – a formidable list that includes a dark web hacker and the head of an international drug syndicate.
These offenders loomed large in their communities, reaping the luxurious benefits of their drug enterprises. Luxury cars, expensive dinners, and high-flying holidays feature heavily on the social media accounts of one Sydney drug smuggler, while another sold Versace branded tablets throughout the state.
From a racecourse royalty to a young hacker, these are the drug kingpins who spread illegal drugs throughout NSW.
Nathan Baggaley
A former silver medal-winning Olympian fell spectacularly from grace when he was embroiled in a scheme to smuggle a massive amount of cocaine into the country.
Nathan Baggaley, 45, is a three-time world champion 500m kayaker who won two silver medals for Australia in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Sadly he was making headlines for a different reason when he and his accomplices tried to import more than 500kg of cocaine into Australia.
Instead of using his marine skills, Baggaley was waiting onshore near Byron Bay while his brother Dru and another man collected the cocaine from a foreign boat.
However, police intercepted their inflatable boat and all three men were arrested, including Baggaley on shore. Police charged them with the attempted importation of an estimated $200 million of cocaine
Although he pleaded not guilty, the court found Baggaley’s guilt proven and sentenced him to 25 years in prison with a 12 year non-parole period. His accomplices were also jailed.
The drug smuggler was previously convicted for partaking in an ecstasy dealing ring in Byron Bay and the Gold Coast in 2007.
Read more about Baggaley here.
Cody Ward
A baby-faced youngster would have had trouble becoming a drug kingpin decades ago, but the introduction of the internet helped eliminate those stereotypes.
Court documents show Cody Ward, 27, was the most successful and longest running drug dealer operating on the dark web, accumulating a $17.5 million drug empire through his online operations.
The Callala Bay man used the pseudonym ‘NSWGreat’ to run a sophisticated cryptocurrency business importing and selling drugs throughout the country. Under his assumed name, Ward told the media he was “on a salary similar to that of a CEO with much less work and definitely a lot more enjoyment”.
Ward’s social media accounts show he was enjoying the proceeds of his sales, with numerous luxury cars, outings to expensive restaurants, and lavish gifts for friends and family.
He 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.
Ward was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in May and will spend at least 10 years behind bars.
Read more about Ward here.
Michael Ibrahim
An underworld kingpin and convicted killer was thrilled about the possibility of making millions of dollars a week through the drug trade.
Michael Ibrahim, 42, was egged on by an undercover policeman to “go bigger” in the drug operation that spanned Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Europe.
He was busted in August 2017 attempting to co-ordinate the importation of nearly two tonnes of MDMA, 136 kgs of cocaine, and 15kg of ice from Europe. Police estimate the total haul of narcotics would be worth $810 million.
“(W) e’re gonna make millions … even making hundreds of millions of dollars,” he bragged to the undercover cop masquerading as his close associate.
Ibrahim facilitated the drug enterprise by introducing two factions to each other, and stood to gain power and a cut of the profits. The court heard he was a “trusted and respected participant” in the drug dealings.
Ibrahim pleaded guilty to a raft of commercial drug importation and money laundering charges in 2018. Two years later he was sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison with a non-parole period of 18 years.
Read more about Ibrahim here.
Dov Tenenboim
A Vaucluse man with a $7000-a-day cocaine habit used his computer skills to establish a formidable drug business that even sold designer drugs.
Dov Tenenboim, 36, started importing massive quantities of drugs from Europe to feed his own expensive habit. The drugs were bought over the dark web, imported while hidden in ordinary items such as candles or baby formula, and sold to other Australian drug networks.
The court heard it was hard to determine the extent of Tenenboim’s drug dealing when so many of the transactions had gone undetected. Between 2017 and 2018, the drug lord was distributing huge amounts of drugs, from ketamine to cocaine, throughout eastern Australia. He even sold illegal drugs marked with a ‘Versace’ brand.
He told police he didn’t feel like he was selling drugs because the deals were reduced to computer transactions. Customers would often pay in cryptocurrency or Tenenboim would convert his savings into the currency.
Tenenboim pleaded guilty to importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and trafficking a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug. He was sentenced to 16 years and four months in prison.
Read more about Tenenboim here.
Damion Flower
A champion teenage surfer who became racecourse royalty used his charm and some co-operative baggage handlers to smuggle huge quantities of cocaine into the country.
Damion Flower, 48, shocked his influential circles when he was arrested in May 2019 for large-scale drug importation.
A court heard Flower oversaw the importation of 228kg of cocaine between June 2016 and May 2019, using his connections as a former baggage handler.
At one point, Flower – the part-owner of champion stallion Snitzel – was smuggling 25kg of cocaine a week, which police estimate is worth $4 million on the street. The high-flying horse owner had his considerable assets seized after his arrest, including properties along the east coast, over a million dollars in cash, cars, a speed boat, and shares in the top racehorses.
Flower has pleaded guilty to importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and dealing with the proceeds of crime equal to or greater than $100,000. He faces a maximum of life imprisonment and will be sentenced next week.
Read more about Flower here.
Darren Rispen
Keeping your name under wraps when you’re the head of an international drug ring is not an easy task, but that’s how Darren Rispen managed to escape police detection for so long.
When police first started looking into the southwest Sydney drug supply in 2013, Rispen appeared to be an incidental cog in the wheel.
Rispen started out as a petty criminal growing marijuana and dealing ice in Campbelltown, but it wasn’t long before he was the man in charge of an international drug cartel dealing in millions of dollars.
Rispen used false names to rent warehouses and cars to store drugs so his name couldn’t be traced to the activities. When police nabbed him in July 2014, he was living the high life in Sydney in his $1500-a-week apartment, luxury leased cars, and regular poker tournaments at The Star.
Despite the risk, Rispen ended up paying a combined bail of $750,000 for his conditional freedom while he awaited trial for more than 26 charges related to drugs and guns. Instead of waiting, he fled.
The drug kingpin was on the run for two and a half years before he was arrested in July 2017 in Nelson Bay.
In 2019, Rispen was jailed for 15 years after pleading guilty to five counts of supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and one count of cultivating a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant.
Read more about Rispen here.
Matthew Pearce
A former rugby league player with ties to the Newcastle Knights was slammed in court for claiming he didn’t know buyers would consume the drugs he was selling.
Matthew Pearce, 37, imported and supplied 163 litres of liquid butanediol (used as a party drug similarly to GHB), supplied 619 grams of cocaine, and imported ketamine. Using post offices boxes, he imported the drugs from the UK and China, and even manufactured a litre of the butanediol himself.
The Newcastle man sold the drugs throughout the Hunter Region but had plans to expand into new markets in South Australia and Queensland. Pearce claimed he was selling the product simply as a cleaning product and didn’t know it could be used as a recreational drug.
However, the judge rubbished his claim as “frankly ludicrous” given the price he was asking for the butanediol, which was $1000 a litre for the concoction.
Pearce pleaded guilty to several charges, including supplying prohibited drugs in large commercial quantity and importing border controlled drugs. He was sentenced to eight years imprisonment with a non-parole period of five years.
Read more about Pearce here.
Matthew Doyle
From high society to high security, a well-known Sydney property developer shocked his friends when he was busted for a plot to import hundreds of kilos of cocaine.
The court heard Matthew Doyle, 33, was motivated by greed and fancied himself a cocaine king. He and his two private school friends were caught in a sting by undercover cops, who even asked Doyle if he was sure he wanted to proceed with the plan.
The trio had arranged for the importation of 300kg of cocaine into Australia but found themselves arrested in September 2019 instead. The court heard Doyle was a “substantial” cocaine dealer in Sydney, selling up to 50kg a week.
Doyle’s social media boasts of a lavish lifestyle of international holidays, multimillion-dollar homes and swanky parties – none of which come cheap. The property developer was caught on an intercepted call saying he “was not a gangster but a businessman”.
The Sydney man pleaded guilty to attempting to receive 300kg of cocaine and knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime. For plotting to import an estimated $80 million of cocaine, Doyle was jailed for eight years with a non-parole period of five years.
Read more about Doyle here.
Aidan Hartnett
A young man, known as “the boss” to his drug syndicate, led the ultimate double life as a father and a rural drug lord.
Aidan Hartnett balanced taking his daughter to Wiggles concerts with the everyday operations of a large-scale regional drug ring, which he ran from his modest home.
The Bathurst man was responsible for distributing more than 1.5kg of ice throughout regional NSW between September 2017 and March 2018. Police estimate the street worth of the ice he sold was $450,000.
Harnett sold more than 520g to one undercover cop who wore a wire as he infiltrated the operation, ultimately bringing the drug kingpin to justice. He pleaded guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of ice in March 2018.
In December 2019, Harnett was sentenced to seven years imprisonment with a non-parole period of four years and eight months.
Read more about Harnett here.
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