Named: UberEats-style drug dealers sentenced for ‘next-generation’ operation

Ten drug dealers offered same-day delivery for huge quantities of drugs via an UberEats-style drug network in Melbourne’s west.

Five Melbourne men have been jailed over a “highly sophisticated” UberEats-style drug delivery network operating out of Melbourne’s west.

Described by police as a “next-generation, highly entrepreneurial group of drug traffickers”, the men were arrested in dawn raids over the Easter long weekend in 2019 after four months of covert surveillance.

Police seized 4kg of meth, 2.5kg of heroin, trafficable amounts of cocaine and MDMA, a hydroponic set-up of 100 cannabis plants and two pill presses.

Between December 2018 and April 2019, the syndicate was observed trafficking more than 46kg of methamphetamine to more than 200 street dealers across Melbourne with six men operating as “couriers” for $66 per hour and four as “phone holders”.

“All of the syndicate members had close personal links, whether they be family or long time friends,” Judge Kevin Doyle said on Wednesday.

“This group were operating as traffickers at a very high level.”

Methamphetamine crystals. Picture: David Mansfield/ Supplied

The court heard the gang used mobile phones with encrypted apps to take orders from street dealers across Melbourne, providing same day delivery from safe-houses in Sunshine and Maribyrnong.

On Wednesday, David Vu, 24, and Thang Truong, 29, appeared before Judge Doyle in the Melbourne County Court after pleading guilty to charges including trafficking a large commercial quantity of methamphetamine.

Vu, who’s role as a phone holder had him coordinating couriers, organising purchases and sales, and keeping a hand-written letter of activity, was jailed for 10 years and 10 months.

The court heard he had worked 60 shifts for the syndicate and was a “trusted and integral part” of the gang — regularly handling cash “in excess” of $100,000.

Thang Truong, who worked 36 shifts as a courier and sold 9564g of meth and 26.7g of cocaine in 500 transactions was sentenced 11 years and eight months imprisonment.

Three other couriers, Thanh Tu Dang, 28, Quang Vo, 28, and Huy Vu, 25, appeared in the County Court on November 25 after pleading guilty to a range of similar offences.

In one shift on January 17, 2019, Dang made 22 deliveries across Melbourne distributing more than 1kg of methamphetamine before suffering a seizure at his last drop.

The Newport man described the medical episode as a “wake-up call” and stopped actively participating in the syndicate.

But by that point, police were keeping a close eye on the gang, installing recording devices at the safe-houses, tracking their vehicles, and covertly watching them live large, meeting in ritzy restaurants like Flower Drum in the CBD.

The syndicate used encrypted messaging app WhatsApp to arrange drug drops across Melbourne.

Dang, who worked eight shifts for the gang in December and January, delivering 4096g of meth to 146 customers was jailed for eight years and 10 months for his role in the syndicate.

An additional 12 months was added to his sentence after police found a hydroponic cannabis set up at his Newport home with 112 plants, which Judge Doyle said was “unrelated to the syndicate”.

Vu, who sold 1282g of meth to 65 customers before he was arrested after a police chase in Lalor on December 23 – sparking the investigation into the syndicate – was jailed for seven years and six months.

Vo worked nine shifts for the syndicate between December 2018 and April 2019, delivering 2946.45g of meth and 22g cocaine to 95 customers.

The Sunshine North man, who was also captured on video at the Maribyrnong safe-house packaging drugs and handling cash, was jailed for eight years and one month.