Named: 25 Northern NSW drug dealers exposed
Thousands of drug-related incidents were recorded in northern NSW in a single year. Here’s 25 dealers convicted in 2022 for trafficking or supplying drugs.
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Police data has revealed more than 2400 drug offences were recorded in the north of NSW between the Tweed and Grafton in just one year.
Below are 25 offenders sentenced in northern NSW courts for trafficking or supplying dangerous drugs in recent times.
In total, 44,127 drug offences were recorded statewide in the year to September 2022, according to data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
In the north of the state, 2470 offences were recorded, or about 5.59 per cent of the state total – which means more than one in every 20 of the drug offences occurred in the area.
Tweed LGA recorded 563 offences, Coffs Harbour recorded 535 offences and Byron was not far off at 490 drug offences.
Lismore recorded 417 offences, Clarence Valley recorded 239 drug offences and 176 of the offences were in Ballina, while 50 were in Kyogle.
Recorded offences were down 6.6 per cent per year statewide on a two year trend, however, rates over the two years remained stable across the northern LGAs.
25 Northern NSW drug dealers
Bodene Lee Robertson, 34, was contacted by an undercover operative on the app Signal between January 8-21 in 2020.
They met at the Mullumbimby middle pub and arranged an exchange.
Robertson then supplied the undercover officer nine times between January 27-April 22 a total of almost have a kilogram (532g) of cocaine ranging from 14 per cent to 41.5 per cent purity, Lismore District Court heard.
Defence barrister Ben Cochrane told the court Robertson began selling to help pay off a drug debt which stemmed from an addiction to cocaine.
Judge McLennan said Robertson had one of the worst backgrounds he had seen in a long time, but said sentencing was not an act of “feeling sorry” for people.
Robertson was sentenced to six years imprisonment with a non-parole period of three years and six months.
Jack Stuart Jones, 22, of Benowa, Michael Gordon, 38, of Casuarina, Tate Robinson, 23, of Casuarina, Jed Conroy, 22, of Casuarina and Mikayla Noakes, 20, of Casuarina were all sentenced in North Coast courts for involvement in a cross border cocaine syndicate.
The ringleader of the operation, Jones, turned to the drug after holding his mother’s hand after she took her last breath dying from cancer, Lismore District Court heard.
Gordon, a former NRL star played more than 250 games for five NRL clubs, including the Gold Coast Titans.
The charges related to 15 drug deals between October 1-November 18 in 2020, totalling 58g of cocaine.
Jones pleaded guilty to knowingly direct activities of criminal group and two counts of supplying a prohibited drug on an ongoing basis.
He was sentenced to three years jail with the non-parole period backdated to November 21, 2022, when he went into custody, to expire on April 13.
Gordon was found guilty of two counts of supplying a prohibited drug.
He was placed on two-year good behaviour order for supplying cocaine and a one-year order for the supply of MDMA. No convictions were recorded.
Robinson pleaded guilty to taking part in the same criminal group and two counts of supplying a prohibited drug on an ongoing basis.
He was sentenced to a two year and four month intensive corrections order.
Noakes pleaded guilty to four charges: participate criminal group contribute criminal activity, two counts of supply prohibited drug and possess prohibited drug.
She was sentenced to a 12 month intensive correction order with 100 hours community service, and was fined $300.
Conroy pleaded guilty to four counts of supplying dangerous drugs, recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime, and participating in a criminal group contributing to criminal activity.
He was sentenced to serve a 30-month intensive corrections order with 200 hours of community service.
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Zain Papa, 30, of Bangalow was arrested in April 2020 for his role in a Byron Bay and Bangalow cocaine syndicate.
He was caught out by a $9000 deal for 28g of cocaine by an undercover police officer on February 23, 2021.
Defence lawyer Alastair McDougall said Papa was a “gopher” for a friend.
Police were granted permission to intercept phone calls and gathered evidence.
Officers raided Papa’s residence and a further 31.95g of cocaine was found in his bedroom by police, court documents state.
Papa pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying cocaine and driving a motorcycle while never being licensed.
Magistrate Michael Dakin sentenced Papa to serve a nine month intensive corrections order.
Papa was also fined $400 and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.
Craig Anthony Welsh, 38, was sentenced in Lismore District Court for one count of knowingly taking part in the commercial supply of a prohibited plant, cannabis.
Welsh grew up to 746 plants in one of three plots of land on a Thora property, southwest of Coffs Harbour and within the accompanying home, the court heard.
At the time of the arrests, police stated the total sum of the three crops with more than 3200 plants was worth a massive $6.5 million.
Judge Jonathan Priestley also read from telephone intercepts between Welsh and co-accused which detailed his involvement.
“Lets get all the s--- ready for the plots,” was just one text between Welsh and a higher-up.
Welsh was convicted and sentenced to a two year intensive corrections order and 150 hours of community service.
Kyle Ayson James, 36, a former New Zealand air force officer, was found by police jumping into a Nimbin cow paddock in February 11, 2021.
Police stopped James and made inquiries, asking for identification.
When James went to retrieve his ID from a car, police spotted a silver tin containing a small amount of ketamine and squares of LSD.
James told police he traded 500g of magic mushrooms for the LSD and ketamine – the latter drugs were for his own personal use, the court heard.
Judge Jeffery McLennan said police had no idea about the mushrooms supply until James revealed as much, which was taken into account during sentencing.
James had been using hallucinogens for about 10 years and used the ketamine for meditation, the court heard.
James pleaded guilty in Lismore District Court to two counts of a commercial supply of psilocybin (magic mushrooms), amounting to 596g.
He also pleaded guilty to supplying 0.055g of LSD, dealing with the proceeds of crime and two counts of possessing a prohibited drug.
James was sentenced to an aggregated three year intensive corrections order.
Angus Brockbank, 28, was busted supplying ‘party’ drugs and in possession of almost $300,000 cash, a court heard.
Judge Jonathan Priestley detailed how police investigating Brockbank searched his Bray Park home on January 6, 2021 and found 306.9g of cocaine, 98 cardboard squares (1.07g) of LSD and 134.23g of MDMA – all commercial quantities of the illegal substances.
Police also found $299,790 in cash believed to be the proceeds of drug supply.
More drugs were found – 86.53g of meth, 48.2g of cannabis, 11.38g of steroids and 18.4g of ketamine.
Judge Priestley said Brockbank told police the $299,000 was for his partner’s cancer treatment.
But the judge said he had no evidence of treatment and it was an “odd aspect” of the case.
Judge Priestley said the proceeds showed Brockbank was “pretty good at selling drugs”.
Brockbank pleaded guilty in Lismore District Court to three counts of drug supply, and knowingly dealing with crime proceeds.
Brockbank, who grew up around drug use, said in an apology to the court he was “ashamed” and understood he “abused” his place in the community by selling illicit substances.
Judge Priestley sentenced Brockbank to an aggregated five years jail sentence with a non-parole period of two and a half years.
Alan John Evans, 66, of Nimbin, escaped time behind bars when he faced Lismore District Court for manufacturing 212.8g of a prohibited drug and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Evans was also sentenced for 10 related charges including supplying cannabis oil, cultivating a prohibited drug, possessing instructions for manufacturing or producing a dangerous drug, and possessing both cannabis leaf and psilocybin mushrooms.
Evans suffered chronic pain following separate accidents and said the oil was for clients “suffering medical conditions such as chronic pain, anxiety, epilepsy, dementia, PTSD, auto-immune conditions, lung cancer and cancerous growths”.
Police investigated Evans after being tipped off that he was sending drugs via Australia Post
Police raided his home on January 20, 2021 and found tubs of cannabis oil, 3763g of cannabis leaf, six cannabis plants and $1240 in profits, court documents state.
Judge Jonathan Priestley said the bulk of Evans’ evidence was justifying what he had done by saying it benefiting the health of others and had not caused harm.
Judge Priestley said Evans prescribed drugs in a “totally unqualified way.”
“The regulatory environment needs to be respected,” he said.
“This (the lack of harm) mitigates the offending but does not excuse it.”
Judge Priestley sentenced Evans to a 23 month intensive corrections order and a 12 month conditional release order. He was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
No conviction was recorded.
Tylah Boronia Hickling, 28, was caught up in a police operation to bust a Bondi ‘dial-a-deal’ syndicate
The drug runner pleaded guilty in Casino Local Court to two counts of supplying a prohibited drug, cocaine.
The Casino woman was involved in a “brazen” drug supply operation where a customer would call a “controller”, who would direct a “runner” to deliver cocaine, the court heard.
Hickling dealt five bags of cocaine to a male witness attached to police Strike Force Giovanna – an operation by Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command to investigate the syndicate.
Hickling’s solicitor told the court Hickling was not involved in the syndicate beyond two drug supplies on that day, February 25 this year.
Magistrate Michael Dakin said while Hickling was a low level operator in the syndicate, but that drug supply operations would collapse without people in such a role.
Hickling was sentenced to serve a two-year community corrections order.
Young meth courier Tyler William Sinclair Hull, 26, was caught with almost 1kg of the drug hidden throughout a car during a drug run.
Hull borrowed a car from another man involved in “the network” and drove it to Sydney to collect methamphetamine, Coffs Harbour District Court was told.
He was stopped at Urunga, south of Coffs Harbour, in March 2021 on his way back up the coast where Police found 992g of methamphetamine stashed in various hidden compartments, as well as three phones.
Judge Jonathan Priestley said Hull did not have a “management role” in the syndicate and took a great risk when he decided to drive a borrowed car down to Sydney to pick up drugs.
Police had been investigating the drug operation using tracking and listening devices.
Judge Priestley told the court it was a huge risk with the maximum penalty being life in jail. Hull described his actions as “the most stupid and dumb” he had ever done during a trial.
Guilty of supply prohibited drugs on an ongoing basis and supply prohibited drug (greater than a large commercial quantity), Hull was jailed for four years and eight months and was eligible for parole on November 12 next year.
Melanie Cox, 50, of Coffs Harbour pleaded guilty to several drug supply charges and recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Cox was driving on the Pacific Hwy at North Boambee Valley on December 16 last year when she was stopped by police as part of a wider operation investigating the supply of prohibited drugs between Sydney and Tweed Heads.
Officers found 245g of the drug ice, 30g of cocaine and $4180 in cash, Coffs Harbour Local Court was told.
The drugs were found hidden through the car, including behind a panel in the driver side footwell and in the steering column, according to police documents.
Cox pleaded guilty to two counts of supply a prohibited drug, and one count of recklessly deal with the proceeds of crime
Magistrate Brett Thomas said Cox put herself in a very “serious position” and came “close to going to jail”.
Cox was jailed for 15 months, served by way of intensive correction in the community.
She was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service work.
Valerie Veronica Laurie, 33, had her day in Coffs Harbour Local Court after police caught her trying to hide thousands of dollars worth of MDMA tablets.
Laurie was pulled over while driving a hire car in Toomina in April 2020.
Police suspected Laurie had been couriering a large quantity of drugs, she underwent roadside tests and her phone was seized by officers as part of investigations, the court was told.
Police soon raided Laurie’s home to find pills stashed inside a fish tank, 22.53g of MDMA as well as 1.08g of meth.
Police uncovered Facebook messages discussing drug quantities and supply on Laurie’s phone.
She wrote the value of 298 tablets was more than $10,000.
Laurie pleaded guilty to two counts of supply prohibited drug and one count each of supply prohibited drug and fail to appear in accordance with bail acknowledgment.
Magistrate Pat McMahon said anyone involved in drugs was “destructive” and she spoke about the large quantity Laurie was found with.
“Drugs such as MDMA are extremely dangerous and play a significant role in destroying our community,” he said.
Laurie was sentenced to an eight month intensive corrections order and ordered to undertake 150 hours of community work.
Blair Wylde-Brown, 53, of Bilambil was on parole for drug supply in the Port Macquarie region, yet he continued to deal cocaine and meth while living in the Tweed.
Police raided his home on October 1, 2020 and found cocaine, meth, and large sums of cash, Tweed Heads Local Court was told.
In the garage area police located large resealable bags containing 136.4g of cocaine on a bench. Wylde-Brown admitted to the supply of cocaine.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying a prohibited drug, two counts of possessing a prohibited drug and one count of dealing with proceeds of crime.
In court barrister Steve Boland said Wylde-Brown’s life had been marked by tragedy.
He lost his sister to leukaemia when he was aged six, his mother was killed by a drink driver and he had a troubled childhood, the court heard.
Mr Boland said his client’s mental health took a turn when his best friend was murdered.
Magistrate Geoff Dunlevy said Wylde-Brown stood out from many other offenders due to his intelligence and at times success running businesses.
Wylde-Brown was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison with a nine month non-parole period.
Sharon Francis Grace Simiana, 48, faced Coffs Harbour Local Court after her “black boat” drug supply ruse fell flat.
She was found guilty of five drug supply charges, one possess drug and one possess prohibited weapon charge.
Police facts revealed that between October 14-October 18, 2021, Simiana organised a deal involving $9000 worth of cocaine and $50,000 of MDMA – which she attempted to disguise using the term “black boat”.
Solicitor Anthony Patrick Cox told the court Simiana was under the control of others operating the deal and had been suffering severe anxiety.
Simiana was clearly aware of her role in supplying the drugs, according to intercepted calls, the court was told
Simiana’s offending involved deals of 100 grams of cannabis, 28 grams of cocaine and a stolen caravan, to which she was found guilty of receive property – theft.
Magistrate Ian Rodgers said Simiana’s lack of insight into her actions raised “significant concerns”, given the seriousness of the supply charges.
He sentenced Simiana to a two-year intensive corrections order and ordered her to serve 200 hours of community service.
Newlyweds Christopher Ian Walsh, 46, and Bettina Hoenselaars, 44, got in over their heads when they wound up supplying cocaine and meth to support their drug habits.
The couple married and moved to Grafton to start a new life together and “both resolved their issue with drugs and are not partaking at all”.
Coffs Harbour Local Court heard Walsh did not “go out onto the streets” to sell drugs but that he was “servicing his own drug habit and his friends jumped on board”,
Police prosecutor Sergeant David Sams told the court cocaine was a “drug of affluence” and “extreme profit” that caused major issues in the Coffs Harbour community.
Walsh pleaded guilty to three counts of indictable prohibited drug supply and three counts of small prohibited drug supply.
Hoenselaars pleaded guilty to one count of participating in indictable prohibited drug supply.
Magistrate Ian Rodgers described her case as “dramatically secondary”.
Mr Rodgers told the court that organised crime cannot exist in the community without “people at this level” dealing drugs.
He sentenced Walsh to serve an 11-month intensive corrections order, 18-month community corrections order and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service
Hoenselaars was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
Jonathan Kyle Gomboso-Dixon, 36, of Stokers Siding, was busted for his cannabis enterprise, which contained almost 50 plants in a shipping container fitted with blacked out glass doors.
Police documents state officers found the container during a raid at Gomboso-Dixon’s address on August 3, 2021. They noticed it had two glass sliding doors added to one end of it.
The glass had been blacked out with plastic from the inside and two long power cords ran from a house to each end of the shipping container.
Police entered and observed a hydroponic cannabis set up divided between two rooms, separated by an internal dividing wall
Gomboso-Dixon initially obtained cannabis clippings and his growing became more “sophisticated than he had planned”, Tweed Heads Local Court was told.
“He had an enterprise that grew a little bit larger than he anticipated,” his lawyer said.
Gomboso-Dixon pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing a prohibited drug, cultivating a prohibited plant, drug misuse and trafficking.
Magistrate Geoffrey Dunlevy fined Gomboso-Dixon $300 and placed him on a 12 month community corrections order.
Noel Ryan, 77, of Banyo in Queensland was sprung with 34kg of marijuana after being stopped on the highway at Ewingsdale for a random breath and drug test.
Police officers pulled his car over for a breath and drug test on January 16, 2021 and spotted a drug conviction from 1998 when they checked Ryan’s licence.
When police started to search Ryan’s car, he told them the boot was full of marijuana and he had paid $200,000 to pick the drug up in Coffs Harbour, Downing Centre District Court was told.
Ryan told the police he put together his life savings to buy the drugs as “a last throw of the dice” to ensure his partner, who was dependent on his income, was looked after when he died.
Judge Warwick Hunt described Ryan’s drug supply scheme as “relatively unsophisticated” and “a deluded attempt to try and provide for his partner”.
He said Ryan’s early plea of guilty to supplying a commercial quantity of cannabis indicated his remorse and that jail would be the only option if not for his serious health conditions,
Ryan – facing court over videolink from Queensland – was placed on a three year community corrections order.
Aaron Luong, 21, from Cabramatta, was caught driving down the Pacific Highway with an estimated $2 million worth of marijuana, heroin and meth stashed in a rental truck.
Luong had 183kg of cannabis inside removalist boxes, 816g of heroin between two mattresses and 2.5kg of meth in a Woolworths bag when he was pulled over north of Byron Bay on July 6, 2021.
Police stopped Luong at Tyagarah because he was seen veering over the road edge line, according to court documents.
Officers noticed a strong smell of marijuana coming from the truck and called in resources to help with the search.
At the time of the offence, Sydney residents were not allowed to leave home without reasonable excuse due to coronavirus lockdowns.
Luong pleaded guilty in Lismore District Court to one count each of supplying commercial quantities of prohibited drugs, dealing with the proceeds of a crime and leaving home without reasonable excuse during the Covid-19 lockdown.
He was sentenced to six years and six months in jail and was eligible to apply for parole on January 5, 2025.
Ewingsdale bricklayer Aaron Philippe-Collett, 45, dealt cocaine to fuel his own addiction and was caught out supplying to undercover cops on more than three occasions.
The self-proclaimed health guru who actively volunteered in the Byron community was jailed over his cocaine double life when he was sentenced in Lismore District Court in August 2021.
Philippe-Collett pleaded guilty to supplying a prohibited drug on an ongoing basis, two counts of supplying a prohibited drug, two counts of possessing a prohibited drug, dealing with the proceeds of crime and obstructing or hindering a person with a warrant.
During the interactions with undercover officers, Philippe-Collett sold them $1650 worth of cocaine.
He offered to supply one ounce, around $7500 or $8000 worth of the drug, but was not able to because his Gold Coast supplier “shut up shop”.
Defence lawyer David Heilpern said the man had been shamed by his public arrest and lost his house after he was taken into custody.
Judge Jeffery McLennan sentenced Philippe-Collett to two years and eight months in jail.
Samuel Burley, 35, from Byron Bay was found guilty of a deemed supply of a cocaine after a bag fell from his pocket when police found him slumped over at a Mexican restaurant.
Burley faced Byron Bay Local Court in April 2021 after the incident in February 2020, which involved 137g of the drug.
Magistrate Karen Stafford rejected Burley’s assertion the cocaine was for personal use, but accepted he was addicted to the drug.
“Cocaine, in this community, has become rife in the last couple of years and its prevalence in this community is something that the court must take into account,” she said.
“I don’t know why it’s become so popular again decades after its initial popularity but … it’s circulated in Byron and other areas of the Byron Shire in a way that makes general deterrence a significant factor.”
Ms Stafford said at the hearing the drugs had an estimated street value of more than $39,000.
“It was a significant amount of a drug that can attract a great deal of street value,” she said.
“And of course your own evidence was that you had paid a large amount for it but had received more than that on credit.
“Which just shows … you’re mixing with people who would allow you to put thousands and thousands of dollars of cocaine on credit.”
Burley was placed on a three year intensive corrections order and ordered to complete 300 hours of community service work.
Banora Point man Stephen Hausfeld, 36, was sent to jail after being caught with a ”smorgasbord” of drugs and pleading guilty to a string of charges.
He faced Lismore District Court for sentencing in 2019 on five counts of drug supply and one charge relating to a large sum of cash.
The court heard offending related to 355.1g of cocaine and 247.4g of methamphetamine, as well as oxycodone and cannabis.
Hausfeld was sentenced to six years’ prison with a non parole period of three years, with parole eligibility in January, 2022.
Judge Peter Whitford said cocaine and meth, in particular, were “sources of considerable societal harm”.
“This is offending which, in its totality, is serious indeed,” he said.
Judge Whitford said the cash seized was “substantial”, but Hausfeld was not alleged to be part of any broader criminal enterprise.
The court heard Hausfeld had good prospects of rehabilitation.
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