Doncaster dropout Dylan Owens jailed for attempting to traffick almost 50kg of drugs

A private school dropout has flunked out after he attempted to traffick almost 50kg of drugs at his Doncaster home.

Dylan Owens pleaded guilty to attempting to traffick a large commercial quantity of drugs. Facebook.

A private schoolboy dropout who attempted to traffick almost 50kg of a dangerous party drug linked to overdoses and sexual assault has been handed a legal lifeline.

Dylan Owens, 25, was sentenced in the County Court Drug Court on Monday to a drug treatment order after pleading guilty to attempting to traffick a large commercial quantity of 1,4 butanediol.

However, Owens still has a three year and 10-month jail term hanging over his head which could be pulled by Drug Court Head Judge Paul Higham at any time.

Owens landed on the police radar after Australian Border Force intercepted a 48.7kg butanediol shipment on September 9 last year.

The bute — a legal industrial solvent which turns into GHB when ingested — was packaged in 44 one-litre bottles hidden in boxes.

Police tracked the huge drug haul to Owens’ Doncaster home but addressed to alias ‘Nathan Wojewidka’.

A covert cop spotted Owens outside the Roseland Grove home and asked if he was Nathan Wojewidka on October 1 last year.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Owens replied.

“Yep mate (I’m Nathan) thank you.”

The cop handed packages to Owens then police swooped in and arrested him.

“I just got a strange delivery in the mail … I don’t know where it is obviously I brought it inside and you guys know that you delivered it to me …,” Owens told police.

“I knew something like this would happen … Am I going to get much jail time?

“I’m f**cked aren’t I.”

Judge Higham said that was an “apt description of your predicament Mr Owens”.

“Nice and succinctly put,” Judge Higham said.

Owens, who gave a “no comment” interview, told police he “didn’t know” the PIN number to his phone.

The court heard Owens grew up in “material comfort” and was “privately educated”.

Owens’ dad is a chief operating officer for an IT company but his mother struggled with “substance abuse”, the court was told.

Owens was asked to leave school in Year 11 before he commenced failed carpentry and plumbing apprentices.

Owens, who has been on remand since his arrest, also briefly ran a failed roofing business, the court heard.

The court was told Owens, who claimed to have paid $7000 for the bute, had abused drugs since he was a young teenager.

“(I’ve) always been cooked,” Owens said.

The court heard Owens was “highly motivated” to turn his life around and wanted his father and sister to be proud of him.

Judge Higham said drug trafficking was an “evil trade”.

“You are truly fortunate to have maintained the support of your family …,” Judge Higham said.

“Yours was not spontaneous offending, there was clearly some preparation … you were running effectively a one-man drug operation … out of your front room of your home which perhaps can be best described as an unkempt and untidy drug house.”

Judge Higham found Owens was introduced to drug use by his mother and his substance use dependency caused his offending.

Owens was convicted and placed on a drug and alcohol treatment order with conditions including judicial supervision.

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