Cairns man Zhan Dunn sent to prison for dealing over $100,000 worth of drugs

A Cairns man who used coded text and phone messages to sell meth and cannabis did not spend money on a lavish lifestyle, opting to use the money for something else entirely.

A man who dealt more than $100,000 worth of methylamphetamine across Cairns stole a car and bankcards from his grandmother after being granted bail, a court has heard.

Zhan Charles Dunn, 26, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison in Cairns Supreme Court on Monday for trafficking 595g of methamphetamine and two-and-a-half kilograms of cannabis.

He was also sentenced for unlawfully using a motor vehicle, theft and a single charge of fraud.

The court heard a police operation intercepted Dunn’s telephone and text messages as he conducted his trafficking business.

His total turnover during the trafficking period was $131,400, including $112,000 for meth and $19,000 for cannabis.

Crown prosecutor Seamus McManus submitted that Dunn had no employees, his operation was neither sophisticated nor did it cover a vast area, but at least one of his customers was another dealer and he used coded communications.

He submitted that the wholesale trafficking was commercially motivated, but “there is not any meat on the bone pointing to an entrepreneurial operation”.

Zhan Charles Dunn pleaded guilty on Monday in Cairns Supreme Court to trafficking methamphetamine and cannabis.

Police executed a search warrant on September 9, 2020, and found 10g of cannabis, utensils for cannabis use and $1145 in cash in Dunn’s possession.

He was released on bail but on June 7, 2021 while staying at his grandmother’s house he took her car and some bankcards which he used to pay for petrol.

Defence counsel Malcolm Harrison submitted an appropriate penalty would be six to seven years imprisonment.

He told the court Dunn had dabbled recreationally in drugs but his drug use spiralled after a relationship broke down.

He suffered drug-induced hallucinations and had been affected by depression in his teens.

The court heard Dunn was living just above the poverty line and whatever profits he made were to feed his own addiction.

Justice James Henry said the volume of Dunn’s dealing was not in the same league as some wholesalers.

It was clear Dunn offended when he was “stuck in a spiral of drug use and some associated psychiatric difficulties”, Justice Henry said.

He called methylamphetamine a “wicked drug” that caused users to behave aggressively and violently.

Dunn will be eligible for parole on January 24, 2023.

Originally published as Cairns man Zhan Dunn sent to prison for dealing over $100,000 worth of drugs