Evan Trent Bowman pleads guilty to his role in wholesale meth trafficking business

The truck driver picked up via phone taps used his job on the road to ‘help a mate’ sell meth in large quantities, but his fingerprints were all over the bag.

Mackay dad Evan Trent Bowman pleads guilty to his role in wholesale meth trafficking business.

A Mackay dad used his job as a truck driver to help a meth trafficking mate on sell the addictive substance in huge quantities for a place to sleep and drugs to smoke.

Police had been targeting another man for pushing meth across Mackay, Whitsundays and Ayr when phone taps led officers to Evan Trent Bowman, busted hiding more than 20g of pure meth in a lasagne tin in a fridge.

Mackay Supreme Court heard the then 37 year old had helped traffic meth for about 2.5 months between August and November 2023 including using his job as a truck driver to courier and supply meth to multiple customers.

Crown prosecutor Tiffany Lawrence said Bowman was given $29,000 for the drugs he had supplied, which totalled at least 84g of meth but could have been double that amount.

“Not one of the supplies could at all be considered a street level quantity,” Ms Lawrence said, adding the lowest amount had been 14g.

Bowman pleaded guilty to seven charges including trafficking, four counts of supplying, aggravated possession and possessing a thing (mobile phone) used in trafficking drugs.

The court heard Bowman, now 39, was picked up in Home Hill about 1pm on November 3, 2023 after police had been monitoring the phone taps. His truck was searched and police found a clip seal bag concealed in a lasagne container in a drawer fridge.

The drugs totalled 20.975g of pure meth in 27.764g of substance which is a 75.6 per cent purity and deemed to be of high grade.

“You denied the methylamphetamines found in the container of lasagne was yours but your fingerprints were located on the clip seal bag which contained the 20.975g of methylamphetamines,” Justice David North said.

Mackay dad Evan Trent Bowman pleads guilty to his role in wholesale meth trafficking business.

The court heard Bowman downplayed his role claiming he had only supplied meth twice.

“You were a knowing participant and aider in a substantial wholesale trafficking enterprise,” Justice North said, telling Bowman he had “voluntarily and wilfully and deliberately involved yourself in the business and participated in doing further acts of the business”.

Barrister Scott McLennan said his client had involved himself with the high level offending for trivial reasons, “a place to sleep and some drugs to smoke” as he was going through a marriage break up.

The court heard Bowman had a good work history since leaving school until his arrest and was now “well advanced” in his rehabilitation.

Mr McLennan said his client had also made a “rare and insightful decision” to have his bail revoked and start his sentence – and spent just more than seven months in custody on remand.

Mr McLennan said his client had been aiding for free rent and to smoke drugs as opposed to running his own trafficking business and that the offending occurred at the lowest point in Bowman’s life – he had been periodically leaving the home to sleep in his car outside of his work.

The court heard Bowman had produced a number of clean drug tests, had done available courses and engagement strategies to help ween away from drugs.

Mr McLennan argued for three years with immediate release stating it was in everyone’s best interest to keep Bowman in the community, while Ms Lawrence pushed for five years jail stating seven months in custody was not sufficient recognition for someone who was an “essential cog in a trafficking operation”.

Justice North acknowledge the rehabilitation efforts Bowman made and continued to make. Ultimately he jailed Bowman for 4.5 years immediately suspended with the 225 days on remand deemed time already served. The jail term will hand over his head for the next five years and convictions were recorded.

“The ball is in your court,” Justice North told him.

Originally published as Evan Trent Bowman pleads guilty to his role in wholesale meth trafficking business