Melbourne drug dealers: Domenic Luzza, Jack Lawford, Mitchell Henwood and Jordan Alexander
See the faces of those responsible — and caught — for peddling deadly drugs on Melbourne’s streets.
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A former Comanchero had his drug empire quashed at a pizza joint and another trafficker was done after eating HJ’s with an undercover cop.
See the other Melbourne drug dealers who went down in 2022.
UNI HIGH-FLYERS SUNK FOR DRUG OPERATION
A former RMIT engineering grad and his uni mate had their high-end international drug syndicate smashed by covert cops.
Wilson Wong was sentenced in the County Court in December to a minimum five-year jail term after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of heroin, meth and cocaine.
Wong and pal Christopher ‘Chris’ Andraos were “complicit” in running their Melbourne-based drug syndicate.
Wong, who also pleaded guilty to attempting to possess a marketable quantity of heroin, worked the gang’s local operations.
Andraos, a former NAB analyst, and others in the syndicate travelled to Vietnam where they sourced drugs before mailing the illicit gear back to Melbourne.
The key players travelled with suitcases stuffed with packaging material used to package and conceal the drugs overseas.
The syndicate used various mailboxes, shared office spaces, burner phones, fake identities and multiple Melbourne “safe houses” to mask its clandestine operation.
The crew used apartments at Essendon North and Footscray to store cash and prepare drugs and 15 other mailboxes and offices to receive drug consignments.
All locations and boxes were leased with a fake identity.
Federal authorities latched onto the syndicate after intercepting a package containing counterfeit Medicare cards and driver’s licences in September 2018.
Police later intercepted multiple packages which contained heroin and another which contained more than a kilo of cocaine.
Detectives served covert search warrants at the Footscray and Essendon North safe houses where police photographed evidence and installed spy cameras and listening devices.
Police raided the safe houses and properties at West Melbourne and Ascot Vale and arrested Wong and Andraos on September 18, 2019.
Investigators seized 365 grams of cocaine, 249 grams of meth, MDMA, $64,855, an industrial size cash counter, scales, the safe, mobile phones, Xanax, passports, a laptop and various fake identities linked to Wong.
Andraos was personally nabbed with $24,190, four mobile phones, two Apple MacBook Pro computers, a passport, a Vietnam Airline ticket and a Hublot watch.
The court heard Wong graduated in engineering at RMIT but was unable to secure full-time work while his gambling and drug addictions escalated.
Andraos, a one-time rising star RMIT masters student who climbed the ladder to become a NAB investment compliance analyst, also fell hard and quit his job due to a raging cocaine addiction.
Andraos gambled then took out loans to cover his drug debts but in the end went into business to bankroll his addiction.
Andraos was sentenced to a nine-year and nine-month jail term with a minimum of six years after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of heroin, meth and cocaine and attempting to possess a marketable quantity of heroin.
Wong was jailed for a maximum eight years and nine months.
LA PORCHETTA CHEF COOKED FOR MAJOR DRUG DEALS
Former Highpoint La Porchetta chef Anthony Natale trafficked meth and MDMA and laundered more than $2 million in crooked cash for a drug syndicate.
Natale was sentenced in the County Court in August to a minimum ten years and three months jail time after pleading guilty to trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs.
Natale was a key cog in the crime syndicate which allegedly smuggled 300kg of cocaine via a Papua New Guinea to Queensland “black flight” in August 2018.
The court heard the cocaine haul was flown in from PNG to North Queensland on a Cessna.
It’s understood the cocaine was loaded in a vehicle and driven to Melbourne for distribution.
Investigators mobilised phone intercepts, wiretaps and physical surveillance to track syndicate members including Natale and the alleged kingpin.
Police covertly tracked Natale as he moved a stack of MDMA and meth and laundered $2,047,950.
Natale, who also pleaded guilty to knowingly deal with the proceeds of crime, met an undercover cop at Bunnings Maribyrnong on October 2, 2018.
The covert operative handed a $5 note to Natale with a prearranged serial number known in criminal circles as a “token”.
The court heard this was a “commonly used” money laundering networks practice for “individuals to identify each other”.
Natale, who offended between October 2018 and March 2019, then handed the cop $200,000.
Investigators watched as Natale moved $1,462,950 between Dreux Bar Ascot Vale and Keysborough via multiple deliveries.
The syndicate, which sourced drug manufacturing supplies from China, prepared drugs for sale at a gang member’s Melbourne home.
The court heard Natale visited the drug house 23 times between January and February, 2019.
Police raided the drug house where they seized 169kg of MDMA, 7011 MDMA tablets and 24kg of meth divvied up in vacuum sealed packages on March 1, 2019.
Natale, who trafficked between January and March 2019, was linked to the drug haul.
Natale handed $385,000 to another undercover cop posing as a money launderer at Central East Shopping Centre Braybrook on March 9, 2019.
Natale, who previously worked at La Porchetta Highpoint, was jailed for a maximum 16 years and six months.
JUICED UP DAD PEDDLED DRUGS VIA AUSPOST
Vagabond dad Jack Lawford admitted operating in a racket which peddled dangerous party drugs via Australia Post parcel lockers.
Lawford was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in October to a two-month jail term after pleading guilty to five charges including trafficking 1,4 butanediol.
Lawford, who originally faced 26 charges, operated as part of a “small drug syndicate” which imported bute via Australia Post parcel lockers, the court was told.
Investigators believed Lawford and his gang trafficked the bute – also known as GHB or Juice – throughout Melbourne.
The court heard Lawford, who marketed his drug as GHB, had a 60ml daily Juice habit.
Victoria Police Major Drug Squad detectives moved on Lawford and his syndicate after receiving a tip-off from federal authorities on April 29 last year.
Australian Border Force tipped off local cops after Australia Post detected 18 “suspicious” packages which contained a combined 18 litres of bute.
Lawford, who has links to Frankston and the southeast, was later nabbed driving while suspended through Reservoir on July 22.
Investigators seized GHB hidden in various vessels including a Fireball bottle, a baby bottle and a maple syrup bottle.
Police also seized scales, deal bags and meth.
Lawford, who also pleaded guilty to drug possession, was arrested and remanded in custody.
The court heard Lawford, who was on bail at the time of his arrest, has priors for drug and deception offences.
Lawford, a father of three, was “living between addresses” at the time of the offending.
Lawford, who appeared via videolink from custody, was convicted and placed on an 18-month community correction order.
HOW PARTY BOY DRUG EMPIRE CRASHED AND BURNED
A Melbourne party boy pair ran a cocaine, MDMA and ketamine trafficking empire masked with secret ledgers and strict rules when dealing with customers.
Jacob Goldsmid and Yohann Moreau were sentenced in the County Court in August after the pair pleaded guilty to trafficking a large commercial quantity of drugs.
The former St Kilda-based duo peddled large amounts of MDMA, cocaine and ketamine between December 2019 and July 2020.
Goldsmid and Moreau, who also both pleaded guilty to trafficking speed and LSD, ran their racket out of multiple Airbnbs.
The pair, who alternated “shifts” at the Airbnbs, also stored drugs, cash and a secret ledger at a Balaclava apartment nicknamed “the shop”.
Police latched on to the duo’s racket after a drug-addled and shirtless Goldsmid dropped three backpacks and a mobile phone while he roamed St Kilda East on December 15, 2019.
Police, who picked up Goldsmid incoherent early the next morning, transferred him to The Alfred, where he spent the next 16 hours.
In the meantime, Goldsmid’s backpacks, phone and wallet were handed into police.
The backpacks contained a combined 240 grams of cocaine, 1.1kg of MDMA, 333 grams of ketamine, 125 grams of speed, scales, deal bags, notebooks and $16,877 cash.
Investigators examined Goldsmid’s phone and discovered his social media accounts and drug dealing transaction messages.
The notebooks contained information linked to various properties, buried cash and a safe, rules related to “operating the shop”, more drug deal entries and “rules for customers”.
Police raided the Balaclava “shop” where they located valium, Xanax, cocaine, ketamine, tablets and a drug ledger on June 4, 2020.
Goldsmid and Moreau weren’t present during the raid so police photographed items at the scene and slipped away.
Investigators then raided the pair’s St Kilda apartment where they seized a Google phone nicknamed the “shop phone”, the drug ledger first seen at the Balaclava apartment, cocaine and cash on July 21.
Police also seized $7000 cash from a Nissan Navara parked outside the apartment and $10,000 from Goldsmid’s Rosebud bungalow.
Goldsmid and Moreau were arrested and hauled away for questioning.
The pair both confessed to operating a joint drug trafficking enterprise for 12 months and admitted they both made entries into the drug ledger.
The court heard the total profits of the drug sales between March and June 2020, according to
Moreau, a French national in Melbourne on a student visa, was jailed for a maximum of eights with a minimum of four years.
Goldsmid, a former landscaper, was jailed for a maximum nine years with a minimum of four years and six months.
SOBBING DEALER DONE WITH DRUGS AT MUM’S HOUSE
A drug dealer sobbed in court after he was jailed for trafficking meth at his mum’s house.
Jordan Alexander was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in April to six months’ jail after pleading guilty to charges including trafficking meth, MDMA and cocaine.
Alexander’s many chances ran out after police raided he and his mum’s Bundoora home on February 16 last year.
Investigators seized meth, $27,150 in cash, shotgun ammo, Xanax and a “large amount” of deal bags.
Alexander’s mum informed police she had no knowledge of any of the items seized, the court was told.
Police searched Alexander’s bedroom where they seized the deal bags stuffed in an Ugg Boot.
Mum called her son, who was not home at the time of the raid, and told him to return to the house.
Alexander asked if he could have a shower before being arrested — which police allowed — but the drug dealer failed to show up.
Police fronted up at the Bundoora home the next day but Alexander was still on the run.
Alexander, who eventually handed himself in at a later date, told police he was in a large amount of debt due to a previous drug raid.
Alexander, an apprentice plumber, claimed he was told by a “person” to hold the bag of drugs, cash and ammo seized by police.
Alexander also claimed he “had no other option” because he was “so scared” of this mysterious person.
The prolific drug dealer was on bail at the time awaiting a deferred sentence for previous trafficking charges.
The court was told Alexander was earlier nabbed with a stack of drugs and cash at his mum’s Bundoora home on September 30, 2020.
Police seized MDMA, meth, cocaine, valium, Xanax, oxycodone and $27,525 cash.
Investigators also discovered several luxury brand goods including multiple watches and a shoe collection.
Alexander, who poses up on social media with arm sleeve tatts, broke down sobbing after he was told he’d be jailed.
Alexander was also handed an 18-month community correction order.
FOOTBALLER FLIPPED FOR PEDDLING METH
Northern suburbs footballer Mitchell Henwood will miss pre-season after he was done for multiple drug dealing rackets.
Henwood pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in December to multiple meth trafficking charges.
Henwood was nabbed slinging meth at Wollert on August 13, 2021.
Henwood, who had a commercial drug trafficking charge withdrawn, was also done peddling meth in Melbourne between May 2 and July 14 last year.
The busy drug dealer was also nabbed with $4440 cash and testosterone ‘Geneza’ and done driving while not holding a licence.
Henwood was barely out of jail for prior drug dealing when he was busted for his current offending.
Henwood was handed a minimum nine-month jail term in April 2021 after pleading guilty to trafficking meth and bute.
The dealer was pinched in Greensborough with more than 50gm of meth and $32,000 cash on September 15, 2020.
Henwood was charged and bailed by police but went back to trafficking the very same day.
Police caught up with Henwood again on October 1 when he was nabbed with more meth, $1650 cash and 222g of 1,4-butanediol – a chemical liquid widely sold as deadly party drug GHB.
Henwood, who made no application for bail, will be sentenced at the County Court for his current offending at a later date.
COMANCHERO KINGPIN’S INTERNATIONAL DRUG RACKET
Former high-ranking Comanchero bikie Domenic Luzza controlled an international drug-smuggling syndicate linked to underworld violence.
Luzza was sentenced in the County Court in October to a minimum four-year jail term after pleading guilty to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
Luzza, who also pleaded guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs, was nabbed after police launched “Echo-Maine 2018” to snare the Comanchero Victorian treasurer.
The lengthy covert op established that Luzza imported and trafficked various drugs including MDMA, ketamine and 100kg of meth precursor ‘MAPA”.
The MAPA could have yielded 80kg of high-grade worth tens of millions of dollars had it hit the streets.
Luzza also attempted to import 200kg of 1,4 butanediol – a legal industrial cleaner that turns into GHB when ingested.
Luzza shopped around for the best prices on Chinese factory produced analog drugs, including methyl alpha-acetophenylacetate (MAPA), fluorodeschloroketamine and MDMA mirror Eutylone.
He was linked with a Hong Kong middleman who provided a full service one-stop shop for overseas traffickers.
Top goon Fawzi El Cheikh, on Luzza’s orders, enlisted syndicate goon Koray Biricik to collect a methyl alpha-acetophenylacetate consignment.
The court heard Biricik firebombed a Reservoir man’s car who owed the crew a drug debt.
The victim was also shot at twice- struck four times — in a three-day period.
Officers from Echo, the ABF and the AFP’s national anti-gang task force monitored spy cameras and bus installed multiple properties and vehicles including Luzza’s Docklands’ apartment.
Luzza’s syndicate used false names and addresses and encrypted phone apps in an attempt to keep their clandestine operation hidden from police.
Police listened, via a device installed in Luzza’s apartment, while the Comanchero boss discussed drug business with lieutenants including El Cheikh and Lorenzo Carbone.
Police also intercepted a Wickr conversation in which Luzza discussed an MDMA deal on September 11, 2019.
Luzza was helping an associate source some ‘Blue Grenades’ (MDMA).
A few days before the deal Luzza obtained 1kg of a substance he described to be ‘MD’.
Luzza was caught with steroids and $20,000 cash after he was arrested waiting for a pizza at Caroline Springs on September 11, 2019.
Police seized 929.9 grams of eutylone (MD) and multiple mobile phones after raiding Carbone’s Hillside home the next day.
El Cheikh, who also pleaded guilty to multiple theft charges, was linked to various stolen luxury vehicles with cloned number plates.
El Cheikh, who was also nabbed with cocaine at his home, was jailed in May last year for a maximum 20 months with a minimum of ten months.
Carbone, 32, was earlier sentenced to a maximum five years and six months with a minimum of four years after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs.
Biricik, 24, was sentenced earlier this year to a maximum three years and 11 months with a
Luzza was jailed for a maximum seven years.
DRUG LORD DOWNED AFTER EATING HJ’S WITH A COP
A Melbourne crime clan family member was busted for a large-scale meth trafficking racket after he ate Hungry Jacks with an undercover cop.
Sadde Haddara was sentenced in the County Court in December to a minimum two years and six months jail after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of meth.
Haddara was nabbed after he became mates with an undercover cop while working as a commercial cleaner in Melbourne’s CBD in January, 2021.
Haddara told the cop he could get “bags” of meth for $5000.
The court heard a drug deal between Haddara and the cop “did not go through” because the dealer was “preoccupied” with the arrest of his cousin Mohammed Haddara.
Haddara soon hit the ground running though, selling the cop almost 200 grams of meth for $35,100 via six transactions between February 1 and April 21.
Haddara also did a deal with the cop inside the Altona Meadows Hungry Jack’s on March 14.
The pair waited together inside the restaurant for Haddara’s “supplier” to arrive.
In the meantime, Haddara and the cop ordered meals and ate together.
Haddara received a text, exited the store then returned with a bag of meth which he handed to the cop.
Police pulled the trigger on the operation and raided Haddara’s Altona North home and the homes of his associates on June 16.
Haddara, who had an “advanced” CCTV system set up in his bedroom, spotted the cops coming and attempted to give them the slip.
The court heard Haddara escaped the home by “slipping through a gap in the fence” but was arrested outside the property.
Haddara was nabbed with meth, cannabis, medical opioid ‘Buprenorphine’ and weapons including a baton and knuckledusters.
Haddara, who was on bail at the time, made “no comment” in relation to the trafficking but said he and his brothers shared the room.
Judge Trevor Wraight said Haddara was “clearly very connected at a pretty high level”.
“The purity (of the meth) is around the top,” Judge Wraight said.
Haddara was jailed for a maximum four years and four months.
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