Adriane Morrison: Brisbane tradie jailed after slinging more than 310g of cocaine in Darwin

A Brisbane tradie who accrued significant debts playing poker has been jailed after becoming a cross-border mule to satisfy his creditors, slinging hundreds of grams of cocaine in Darwin and netting more than $136,000.

Brisbane tradie Adriane Shane Morrison, 27, a talented cricketer and inveterate gambler who went all in on cocaine and lost. Picture: Facebook

A Brisbane tradie who accrued significant debts playing poker has been jailed after becoming a cross-border mule to satisfy his creditors, slinging hundreds of grams of cocaine in Darwin and netting more than $136,000.

Adriane Shane Morrison, aged 26 at the time of his offending last year, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory at Darwin to supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine and possessing cash which was obtained from the commission of an offence.

Morrison’s sentencing hearing before Justice Sonia Brownhill on September 16 heard the defendant became involved in “a criminal syndicate that buys and sells dangerous drugs, with members in the Northern Territory and Queensland” after accruing debts.

Those debts, which totalled between $30,000–$45,000, were a result of Morrison’s involvement in underground poker games – he also worked occasionally as a dealer on the Australian Poker Tour – the court heard.

“In order to pay that debt off, you were required to pick up and drop off dangerous drugs and cash as instructed by the syndicate,” Justice Brownhill told the court.

Brisbane tradie Adriane Shane Morrison, 27, a talented cricketer and inveterate gambler who went all in on cocaine and lost. Picture: Facebook

His offending commenced on July 18 last year, when he travelled from Darwin to Brisbane to drop off cash to a shopping centre carpark, before driving to Cairns for another drop-off.

Upon his return to Brisbane, he drove to Darwin to deliver an unknown amount of illicit substances to syndicate members, before flying back to the Queensland capital.

On August 13 last year, he again flew from Brisbane to Darwin, setting up shop in a hotel room as he divided and cut (by adding creatine) cocaine for sale.

Between August 14–17, Morrison made at least eight transactions at the behest of the syndicate, moving 311g of cocaine in exchange for $136,150 cash, $26,000 of which was delivered to a syndicate member at a cafe in Parap.

But the tentacles of law enforcement were already tightening around Morrison, with NT Police beginning their monitoring of the defendant after receiving intelligence on August 15.

Two days later, in the hours before Morrison was due to supply another 5g to a cash-paying client, officers swooped, executing a search warrant on his hotel room, where they discovered $110,150 in cash, two boxes of unused clip-seal bags, discarded bags with white residue, digital scales with traces of cocaine, 531.8 grams of creatine, 174.16 grams of cocaine and rubber bands.

Analysis of Morrison’s mobile phone uncovered evidence of “extensive” involvement in the syndicate, as well as the defendant’s admission that he wished to keep working with the syndicate even after satisfying his debt, with guns most likely to be his next cargo.

Morrison, who was born in South Africa and moved to Brisbane as a boy, had a limited criminal history consisting only of traffic offences, the court heard.

He was formerly a talented club cricketer, playing first grade as a pace bowler, and worked in the construction industry, an industry he hoped to return to once released from incarceration.

Justice Brownhill sentenced Morrison to six years’ imprisonment, backdated to his arrest on August 17 last year, and set a non-parole period of three years.