Shocking examples of drug dealers from Alice Springs and how they’re being exposed

Here are examples of drug dealers in Alice Springs caught red-handed as NT Police grapple with an escalating crime problem in the Red Centre.

AS ALICE Springs grapples with an escalating crime problem, NT Police are cracking down on drug dealers in the Red Centre.

Officers have already carried out several drug operations across Alice Springs in the first quarter of 2022.

Earlier this year, the Southern Drug Investigation Unit, Southern Dog Operations, Strike Force Viper and general duties officers carried out a search warrant at a 44-year-old man’s Larapinta home where it is alleged they located 1.2kg of cannabis, multiple cannabis plants, and more than $95,000 in cash.

In 2021, almost 900kg of illicit drugs were destroyed by the Australian Federal Police in various districts, which included Alice Springs.

Overall, crime in the Red Centre has risen in every recorded category since the last crime statistics were released.

Drug and Alcohol Services Australia chief executive Eloise Page said rehabilitation was a great option in Central Australia through their services.
“DASA has been operating in Central Australia for more than 30 years,” Ms Page said.

“In terms of residential rehabilitation, we have our 12-week Aranda House Therapeutic Community program (20 beds).

“A therapeutic community approach is where the community itself, through self-help and mutual support, is the principal means for promoting personal change and, we take a holistic approach to addressing the needs of the whole person, rather than just the addiction.”

High profile financial adviser Harris Shortland caught carrying cocaine in a helmet.

Harris Shortland.

Alice Springs financial adviser Harris Shortland was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for smuggling cocaine into Alice Springs with no expected parole for four years.

The high profile financial adviser was caught smuggling 40g of cocaine into The Red Centre

The jury found Shortland guilty of smuggling cocaine and then supplying the illicit drug between 2017 to 2018.

Shortland imported cocaine from Los Angeles to Alice Springs inside a motorbike helmet in July 2018.

He was also found guilty of obtaining $18,000 from the sale of the illicit drug.

Drug offender Reuben Nadich was sentenced after he shot a man in Alice Springs.

Reuben Nadich shot a man at a waterhole in Alice Springs two weeks after he received a suspended sentence for possessing a “substantial” amount of drugs.

The victim was left seriously injured.

Nadich was sentenced to 10 years in jail and was released in 2018.

Nadich was then arrested again in late 2021 with outstanding drug charges in South Australia.

He received a suspended sentence for four years and one month on a two-year good behaviour bond for $5000.

Nadich stated in court that he plans to return to the Northern Territory.

32-year-old Roshani Sarah Byerley found guilty on drug charges.

Roshani Sarah Byerley was found guilty in 2019 for selling cocaine for $500 a gram after making extensive admissions to police about the illicit drugs that had been posted from the United States.

Between December 2017 and August 2018, nearly 84g of cocaine was posted to Alice Springs with a market value of up to $40,000.

Police eventually located Byerley’s buried power after a detective approached her near Uncles Tavern and told her search warrants were issued against her.

After appearing visibly emotional in court, Byerley was given a sentence of three years and six months imprisonment.

Her sentence was then suspended under several conditions.

Former baggage handler faces court

Former baggage handler Naudis Tago-Owens received a suspended sentence after giving his mother MDMA to try for the first time, before she overdosed.

The Alice Springs man avoided a mandatory jail sentence for drug offences after he provided the illicit drug to his mother last June, which ended her life.

The Supreme Court heard that Tago-Owens organised MDMA to be delivered to a party and chopped into lines, which he then passed around on a plate.

He passed the plate to friends and family, including his mother, who snorted it through a rolled up note.

Tago-Owens was handed a four month prison sentence, suspended immediately.

David Rangi caught with cannabis

David Rangi, 22, was given a three year suspended sentence for selling a cannabis.

The Alice Springs man had imported the drug from Adelaide to pay off debts.

The court heard that he could have made as much as $40,000 from selling it.

Justice Stephen Southwood found the Red Centre man had a chance of rehabilitation, with Rangi was fined $500.