French student Adrian Ferrara jailed after drug operation unearthed at Bell City
An unsuspecting hotel cleaner led police to a $40,000 drug bust after she stumbled across a guest’s “lost property” inside a drawer at a Preston hotel.
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An unsuspecting hotel cleaner has led police to a $40,000 drug bust after she stumbled across a guest’s “lost property” at Bell City in Preston.
The BreakFree Bell City Hotel staff member was cleaning room 333 on April 15 when she checked inside one of the drawers under the bed and saw what she initially thought was lost property.
A closer inspection revealed a plastic bag containing a rocklike substance, a mini electronic weight scale machine, a $5 note and a wooden bowl.
The shocked cleaner called her manager who searched more drawers and uncovered a black Kathmandu bag containing a ‘Woolies’ shopping bag with $40,000 inside.
The manager also found an Apple laptop.
The hotel alerted police who arrived later that day to seize the items.
The next day about 2.40pm the suspect guest returned to try and get back into his room but hotel staff swiftly called police who turned up to make the arrest.
French student Adrian Ferrara pleaded guilty to commercial drug trafficking and negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The 31-year-old, who has been living in Australia on a student visa for the past three years, was jailed for three years and six months in the County Court on December 16.
Court documents show Ferrara wasn’t staying in the room but using it as a storage facility for his illicit activities.
A forensic analysis of the crystal powder substance found it was 228.5g of MDMA with a purity of about 75 per cent.
When Ferrara was arrested police also found more than $2800 on him suspected to be the proceeds of crime.
The court heard the cash-strapped former university photography teacher said the offending was “the biggest mistake of (his) life” and he saw it as an opportunity to make enough money to buy a flight home to France.
Judge George Georgiou told the court Ferrara, a daily cocaine user before his arrest, did not believe his conduct constituted trafficking as he only held the drugs for a short period of time before they were passed on to someone else.
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“There is no evidence to suggest that your involvement was any greater than facilitating the movement of the drug and money from one person to another,” Judge Georgiou said.
“However, drug trafficking is a serious offence.
“Your offence involved some planning and foresight in the hiring of the hotel room to avoid your partner discovering your involvement in the trafficking.”
After serving 244 days on remand, Ferrara will be eligible for parole in mid-2021.
He will be deported once released from prison.