John Mervyn Harvey avoids jail after being caught with drug lab bunker at Banora Point, Tweed Shire home
A North Coast man caught with a drug lab concealed in an underground bunker at his home in a sleepy suburb has avoided jail-time. Here’s what happened.
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A Tweed Shire man who had a drug laboratory in an underground bunker at his home in a sleepy suburb has avoided being sent to prison during sentencing in a North Coast court.
John Mervyn Harvey, 68, faced Judge Michael McHugh at Lismore District Court
Tweed Heads Local Court previously heard the excavated bunker was found in the Banora Point home Harvey had lived in for about four decades and that equipment was used to produce amphetamines and MDMA on a commercial scale.
Police raided Harvey’s Mariners Crescent residence on December 18, 2019.
Officers noticed stairs into a laundry looked odd and it appeared they had been moved.
Police discovered the steps could be lifted and gas struts were fitted to assist.
Below, a ladder led into a dark room which had wood panels up against walls and the ceiling.
Police deemed it a working clandestine drug lab in the process of manufacturing, the court was told.
Officers found glassware, liquids, solid substance, electrical equipment and a pill press.
Rubber gloves had Harvey’s DNA on them and a glass flask with clear liquid contained more than 14kg of gamma buyroctane (GBL). It can be used as a chemical precursor of the illicit drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB).
Police also uncovered 400 MDMA tablets, 52g of MDMA powder, 41g of a crystalline MDMA, round bottom flasks, condensers, distillation equipment and a heating mantel, the court was told.
Harvey denied knowledge of the lab, despite living alone. He told police his house was open and friends were able to come and go.
Harvey pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly taking part in the manufacture of a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
However, the Crown accepted there was no evidence linking Harvey to manufacturing. It was noted he owned the property and allowed manufacturing.
Harvey had six other charges withdrawn – two counts of possessing dangerous drugs, two counts of possessing a precursor intending to use in manufacture, and one count each of possessing a tablet press and taking part in the manufacture of a prohibited drug.
On February 22, Judge McHugh sentenced Harvey to a 14-month supervised intensive correction order with a non-parole period of nine months.
A non-publication and suppression order for 25 years was made for evidence given at Harvey’s sentencing hearing.
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Originally published as John Mervyn Harvey avoids jail after being caught with drug lab bunker at Banora Point, Tweed Shire home
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