Drug dealer Force Ostermann jailed after Australia Post flag suspicious package with chemicals to make explosives

The Bomb Response Unit had to be called in after a drug dealer’s package was flagged by Australia Post as suspicious. See what they found.

A drug dealer’s suspicious package was flagged by Australia Post before the Bomb Response Unit found chemicals used to make explosives.

Force Ostermann, 33, was jailed for over four years after he became “bored and restless” while on home detention bail and decided to make fireworks.

During sentencing, the District Court heard police attended at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital on November 22, 2022 in relation to an outstanding parole board warrant.

Ostermann’s backpack was searched and bottle containing 757g of GHB, also known as fantasy, was found.

The fantasy was valued at up to $3750.

Force Ostermann was jailed for drug trafficking and other offending. Photo: Facebook

“You falsely claimed that the liquid in the plastic bottle was an industrial degreaser for cleaning the rims of your motorbike,” Judge Carmen Matteo said.

Text messages revealed Ostermann had been selling drugs between August and November 2022.

The court heard Australia Post contracted police on January 15, 2024 in relation to a package addressed to Ostermann which was thought to contain suspicious chemical substances.

The package was examined by the STAR Group Bomb Response Unit and found to contain 1kg of potassium nitrate and 1kg of aluminium powder.

The court heard potassium nitrate can be used in the manufacture of homemade explosives, while aluminium powder is a fuel which is routinely added to fireworks or other explosives to enhance the pyrotechnic effects.

Potassium nitrate and aluminium powder can also be mixed together to produce flash powder, which is an explosive substance.

Police attended at Ostermann’s Modbury address where they found gun powder, a handwritten list of ingredients for homemade explosives and images of fireworks on a phone.

Ostermann phoned a woman from custody a few weeks later and asked her to go to his house and look for a container under a tarpaulin.

With knowledge of this call, police attended at the Modbury premises and conducted another search.

In the container they found precursor chemicals used in the manufacture of explosives including sulphur, charcoal powder, potassium nitrate, aluminium powder and nitric acid.

Also in the container were fireworks, two improvised detonators and a gel blaster.

Ostermann pleaded guilty to multiple offences, including drug trafficking, possessing firearm and taking a step in the process of manufacture of an explosive device.

The court heard Ostermann, a father began abusing drugs in his teenage years and began dealing to support his habit.

The court heard while on home detention bail for the drug trafficking offence Ostermann became “bored and restless” and intended to make fireworks.

Ostermann was sentenced to four years and three months jail, with a non-parole period of two years and seven months.

“The trade in illicit drugs, the manufacture of explosives and the unlawful possession of firearms, all jeopardise the safety of the community,” Judge Matteo said.

The sentence was backdated to January 15, 2024.

Originally published as Drug dealer Force Ostermann jailed after Australia Post flag suspicious package with chemicals to make explosives