Matthew Doyle boasts about ‘drug empire’ in secret police recordings
Matthew Doyle was arrested at a Marrickville storage unit allegedly trying to access a 50kg cocaine shipment. Police had already intercepted the drugs and replaced them with an “inert substance”.
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Socialite Matthew James Doyle was secretly recorded boasting he started dealing drugs as a 15-year-old and had built a customer base so big he could sell 100kg of cocaine a week, police allege.
Officers listened in as the 31-year-old property developer explained “he was not a gangster, but a businessman and loved money” while allegedly negotiating a deal to ship 300kg of cocaine to the hungry Sydney market.
The exchange was detailed in documents tendered to Central Local Court on Thursday, where Doyle and two of his mates, former private school students Jared Hart and Raoul Kesby, faced charges over the $85 million cocaine smuggling plot.
Doyle also said he “loved making money for people and making friends”, the documents claim.
To secure the sale and negotiate the price, the documents said, Doyle spruiked his past drug-dealing experience and said he “may be prepared to hand over $8 million a week as payment for the cocaine”.
He allegedly detailed how he started dealing drugs when he was 15 years old and that his operation had grown to the point where he “now has a lucrative real estate business” that he used to “slowly siphon” drug money.
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From the outside, Doyle had built what appeared to be an idyllic existence as a successful entrepreneur who was making a fortune from property developments and other business ventures.
He lived in Burraneer, in Sydney’s south, drove a Land Rover Sport and had shares in numerous property developments and other companies.
Doyle is married to glamorous PR executive Kelsea Doyle and the pair were frequent fixtures on the Sydney social scene.
But on September 4, Doyle, Hart and Kesby were arrested at a Marrickville storage unit allegedly trying to access a 50kg cocaine shipment.
Police had already intercepted the drugs and replaced them with an “inert substance” before sending the shipment to its destination in order to arrest whoever picked it up, the documents said.
On opening the box “Doyle complained that it was not the expected cocaine” and that “he had been robbed”.
Investigators from the Organised Crime Squad had been patient as they set a trap for Doyle and his co-accused.
Between April 22 and September 4 they secretly recorded Doyle as he allegedly negotiated to buy the cocaine.
In July, police allege Doyle was recorded saying he could “distribute” 100kg of cocaine in “two to three weeks” and had “agreed to purchase cocaine for $150,000 per kilogram”, the documents said.
By July 7, police allege that he was recorded organising a cash deposit to buy 300kg of cocaine and that he was “preparing his drug distribution network in anticipation” of receiving the shipment.
On July 26, Doyle allegedly had Hart, a 30-year-old former Newington College student, deliver a $220,000 cash deposit to pay for the drugs.
Later that month, police claim to have recorded Doyle explaining that he planned to supply between 50kg to 100kg of the shipment each week and was prepared to “hand over $8 million per week as payment”.
If the suppliers were worried, Doyle allegedly “provided reassurance that he was capable of on-supplying such large quantities of cocaine”.
He revealed he had a successful history in selling the drug, including one period where he sold 50kg every week for six months, police claim.
In terms of his drugs business, Doyle was recorded saying he sold cocaine for between $155,000 and $166,000 per kilogram, police allege.
By August it was time to seal the deal. Doyle was allegedly recorded arranging to receive the 300kg on a 50kg per week basis.
And he had one other demand, according to the documents: an exclusive rights deal where the seller would only deal with him.
As a sweetener, he agreed to pay an extra $300,000 cash on delivery for the first shipment, police said.
This was allegedly paid on September 4. But the person receiving the cash was an undercover operative working for the police. Officers had already intercepted the cocaine and replaced it with an inert substance.
At 11.40am, it was delivered to Hart and Kesby, a 28-year-old ex student from the prestigious Scots College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, police said.
The pair transported it to a storage unit in Marrickville where they met Doyle.
Shortly after Doyle complained he had been robbed, he and Kesby walked outside and were arrested by police. Hart was arrested a short time later.
Doyle is charged with supplying a prohibited drug not less than a large commercial quantity, and two counts of knowingly dealing with cash that was the proceeds of crime.
Kesby is charged with supplying a prohibited drug not less than a large commercial quantity.
Hart is charged with knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime, supplying a prohibited drug not less than a large commercial quantity and two counts of unlawfully obtaining goods in relation to police identification that was found in his Bronte apartment.
All three will next appear in Central Local Court on October 9.
Originally published as Matthew Doyle boasts about ‘drug empire’ in secret police recordings