Thanh Pham: Thomastown Crown Casino addict caught dealing meth

They were a normal couple, working for Coles and the government, until the urge to gamble at Crown Casino led them astray.

Pham and Vo became addicted to gambling at Crown Casino.

The irresistible urge to gamble at Crown Casino led a previously law-abiding couple to large-scale drug dealing, a court has heard.

Thanh Hoai Pham, 37, fronted the County Court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to charges including trafficking a commercial quantity of meth and heroin and trafficking MDMA and cocaine.

The Thomastown man was found to be working for a major drug retail business run through the dark web when police arrested him on July 12, 2019.

He had joined the drug syndicate, run by fellow Crown Casino member Tin Henry Nguyen, after his serious addiction to gambling at Crown Casino put him in severe debt, the court heard.

Nguyen’s business involved customers placing orders on the dark web then paying for the drugs using BitCoin with an encrypted email address.

The drugs were then delivered through Australia Post in an Express Post envelope.

When police raided Nguyen’s Port Melbourne home on July 12, 2019 they found spreadsheets of drug transactions, recording more than 504 deliveries of drugs, and including a total sale of more than 616g of meth and more than 370g of heroin.

$35,205 cash was found at Nguyen’s home as well as details for a Melbourne safe deposit box where $124,300 was found.

Police surveilled Nguyen for weeks before arresting him, leading them to discover Pham was involved in distributing and collecting the drugs for the business.

Pham was storing the drugs at his partner’s Clarke St, Southbank apartment.

Police also raided the apartment on July 12, 2019, finding 138.1g of meth, 241.6g of heroin, 79g of cocaine, 139.3g of MDMA, $126,400 and Express Post satchels.

Investigators also found 87 pairs of designer shoes, 55 designer handbags, 39 designer wallets, a Cartier bracelet and Rolex watch.

The accessories, which belonged to his partner Jenny Vo, were proceeds of the drug dealing.

Vo, 34, also fronted the court to plead guilty to trafficking heroin and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

The court heard Pham and Vo had been together for about 10 years before their arrest and were planning to start a family when they were caught.

It was heard Pham had been working at Coles’ distribution centre in Somerton before his addiction to Crown Casino took over his life.

He began going to the casino to gamble for four-hour periods about four times a week, spending about $3000 a week.

It was heard Vo, who worked at Births, Deaths and Marriages up until her arrest, was also a problematic gambler, and would attend the casino with Pham.

Pham’s lawyer said his client’s gambling became so problematic he began taking on huge loans with high interest rates, which in turn led to him getting the illicit new job.

It was heard neither Pham nor Vo had been in trouble with the law before they were busted drug dealing, while neither of them were drug users themselves.

Pham fronted the court having been locked up for more than two years since his arrest, while Vo appeared on bail, having been granted bail after 306 days behind bars.

They will be sentenced at a later date.