Windsor House Private rehab mum Veronica Sabo and St Kilda cafe owner Christoper Noti in drug bust
A Melbourne mum was up to her neck in a major drug ring which slung big money heroin deals out of a St Kilda cafe.
Inner South
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A Melbourne mum who ran a heroin trafficking empire out of a St Kilda cafe is now a “warrior” drug rehab mentor.
Veronica Sabo, 42, fronted the County Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to trafficking heroin and attempting to possess a marketable quantity of cocaine.
Sabo was snared alongside her boyfriend Christopher Noti and drug ring player Duncan Peck following Joint Organised Crime Task Force investigation ‘Operation Rhyolite’.
The court heard Sabo and Noti slung smack to Peck and others multiple times in August 2021.
Sabo and Noti’s modus operandi was to leave Peck half gram deal bags in a drawer at a St Kilda property.
Peck collected the heroin from the Marine Parade unit then “arranged payment at a later stage”, the court was told.
Covert cops caught the drug ring players in action via surveillance and phone intercepts.
“Can I come over … Need to figure out what’s going on with cash … And need to get gear as well,” Peck texted Sabo.
Sabo also sent messages which indicated she didn’t know how much money she was owed for drug sales.
“Hey Dunx, YES I will put it in, however, can we put some focus on the draw. I’m not sure
what your tictab is? For me it has become a bit of a confusing mess. So Ive been keeping a
telly, but only since Tuesday (not just on you but on everyone) and your bill is at $690. That’s
just in the past 4 days …$690 is a lot and It kinda highlights to me that the actual total is most probably quite a bit greater than that,” Sabo wrote.
Investigators also discovered an electronic note on Sabo’s phone which “suggests” the mum and Noti sold heroin to “other customers”.
However, police established Sabo and Noti sold to Peck “most frequently”.
The Peck deals included a period where more than $4000 of smack was sold between August 24 and August 31.
Police also established Sabo and Noti charged $200 for 0.3g of heroin and $350 for half a gram.
Sabo and her drug crony also slung gear to “local drug users” from Noti’s cafe at 52 Robe St St Kilda, the court was told.
Sabo and Peck also teamed up in an attempt to possess cocaine shipped into Australia via Hawaii.
The coke consignment was masked as ‘Children’s Board Game’ and bound for a Balaclava property.
Australian customs initially cleared the consignment but investigators who intercepted the cocaine asked it be sent back to FedEx.
Sabo and Peck were caught texting about the consignment after it was seized on September 28, 2021.
“Did you get my msg about drop off … Can you make sure someone is at the address in balaclava,” Peck wrote.
The plan went sideways after Sabo told Peck the drugs were not at the St Kilda Rd property.
“F--k … Is it not there … I’ll msg him now,” Peck wrote.
In the meantime, a Border Force officer X-rayed and “partially deconstructed” the consignment.
The officer located a ‘Disney Eye Found It’ board game and a cocaine brick which weighed almost a kilo.
Sabo contacted Peck and asked for the FedEx tracking number.
“If they had put it in the right f--king name then I could’ve f--king gone and gotten it … the FedEx is closed,” Sabo said.
“They’re not even open … So it’s been logged so it won’t … it won’t get sent back to the States.”
Sabo smelled a rat after several days went by with no sign of the package.
“I think they lost it to be honest,” Sabo wrote.
“Or it’s been taken in … And they waiting for Amanda to pick it up … The name and address f--k up really f--ked things with that package …
“I went out there but they had closed early so I couldn’t even talk … I was gonna say that Amanda was my daughter and my name was holly like the id …
“I was starting to think its been found or one of the workers has ‘found’ it thinking it’s what it said on the box and took home for their kids or some shit …
“Hope not but I don’t know I’ll call again tho … I know Chris (Noti) was on the computer and got the tracking number of me to try find it …”
Police brought the hammer down and arrested Sabo, Noti and Peck on December 7, 2021.
Investigators raided Peck’s Bentleigh East home, Sabo’s St Kilda unit and Noti’s St Kilda cafe and seized drugs.
The court heard Sabo, a mother of three, now lives in Trentham and works as a rehab mentor at Windsor House Private.
The defence submitted Sabo was a “warrior” for other women at Windsor House Private.
Sabo, who also works at the Trentham Bakery, had her bail extended to be sentenced at a later date.
Noti and Peck both pleaded guilty to various drug charges and will be sentenced at later dates.
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