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How police took down Darwin cannabis kingpin
TRUE CRIME
Darwin businessman Peter Wellman James will spend at least the next five years behind bars for playing a senior role in a drug syndicate that smuggled millions of dollars worth of cannabis into the NT.
This is how he was caught.
James headed up the Darwin arm of an operation that moved more than 1.5 tonnes of cannabis into the NT from a South Australian group of suppliers known as 'the Russians' from late 2019.
Read more on the syndicate here
If all of the cannabis had made it onto the street in the Territory, it would have made the syndicate between $17m and $20m.
James slipped under the radar of police by appearing to be a legitimate businessman with interests in landscaping and ATM businesses.
The 43-year-old father of three was also the patron of an orphanage in Bali and set up water projects in villages and schools in Indonesia.
However, James became the subject of a drug squad operation, codenamed Medina, along with other suspected syndicate members and was arrested in November 2021.
Read the phonetap transcript here
A raid of his Bellamack home revealed more than $100,000 in cash, a black kevlar ballistic vest and an encrypted cypher phone used by the syndicate to avoid detection by authorities.
During James’ trial, the court heard he first became involved with the distribution of cannabis supplied by 'the Russians', who were based in Adelaide, because he owed them money.
James was sentenced to 12 years after pleading guilty in the Supreme Court to commercial drug supply, conspiracy and handling tainted money. He will be eligible for parole in 2027.
Words: Jason WallsProducer: Andrew Piva																																								

Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/web-stories/free/nt-news/peter-wellman-james-how-darwin-cannabis-kingpin-was-caught