Simon Ratcliffe: Altona Meadows dad caught mailing ice in Laverton
An Altona Meadows man’s grand plans to earn some serious cash using the Spirit of Tasmania all came undone at a Laverton post box.
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A dad’s large interstate drug operation involving the Spirit of Tasmania was foiled when he put hefty amounts of ice in the mail in front of national police.
Simon Ratcliffe, 42, fronted the County Court on Wednesday, November 18, where he pleaded guilty to charges including trafficking a commercial quantity of methylamphetamine.
Ratcliffe was being monitored as part of a national investigation into cross-state drug trafficking when police watched him put almost 240g of ice in a Laverton post box on February 3.
The father-of-two had also used his brother’s internet account to have a Honda Accord sent from Devonport in Tasmania to Melbourne via the Spirit of Tasmania.
After Ratcliffe picked up the car on April 10, police raided his Altona Meadows home and found $125,150 hidden inside pillowcases in a panel of the Honda.
More than 30g of cocaine and 10.4g of ice was found inside his house.
Ratcliffe was then being escorted to a police station when he told an officer, “You do what you’ve got to do to get drugs, you know”.
The court heard he had long suffered issues with drug, alcohol and gambling addictions and had previously been jailed for drug crimes.
Lawyer Sam Norton said his client had a personal history so horrific that it was shocking to even those who spent their lives working with criminals, including prolonged abuse and a variety of traumas.
Ratcliffe was unemployed when he was arrested but worked in traffic management until getting injured in 2019, the court heard.
It was submitted he had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and that his time on remand since his arrest had been much more onerous due to the restrictions caused by COVID-19.
Judge Lewitan will sentence Ratcliffe on December 7.
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