Sydney drug ring's massive Australia Day profits

The unravelling of a multi-million dollar dial-a-dealer drug ring has revealed the thirst for cocaine on public holidays and long weekends in Sydney's most affluent suburbs.

Cocaine dealers Codie Peter Cowan, 28, Daniel Sheather, 27, and Kingston Stephen Day, 23, made more sales on Australia Day than any other day of the year.

On the Easter long weekend, the trio raked in $34,000 for four days work, delivering to customers in areas including Bondi, Coogee and Bronte.

The incredible pay days for the syndicate, who have all pleaded guilty in the NSW District Court to drug supply, were uncovered during police surveillance last year. 

Court documents seen by Daily Mail Australia reveal that on January 26 last year - as Aussies gathered at the beach, in backyards and on balconies - the syndicate's main drug runner Sheather spent the day driving between the beachside suburbs.

He delivered cocaine to 60 customers at $300 a bag, pocketing $18,000 for a single day's work.

A few months later they were raking it in again, collecting $34,000 over the four-day Easter weekend.

Court papers revealed the syndicate had a set scheme to take orders, deliver drugs and receive payment. 

One of the men - normally ringleader Cowan - sat by the phone taking orders, while the other two 'runners' would drive between the beachside suburbs delivering.

A normal weekend might see them make a handful of deliveries. A busy one as many as a dozen.

But on public holidays, the orders would flood in from morning until late at night.

While a haul of 60 bags on Australia Day was the busiest single day of the year, a few months later Easter also proved to be a major money spinner for the syndicate.

Over the four-day religious holiday Cowan and Sheather delivered 114 bags between them, netting close to $34,000. 

But what the group didn't know was that by the time March rolled around they had already been on the radar of police for more than a month.

The downfall of the syndicate began on February 23, 2018 - a summer's Friday night - when a customer was caught outside the Coogee Bay Hotel with a bag of cocaine.

Police had been watching as Sheather's black Volkswagen Golf turned from Coogee Bay Road into a dark side street where he collected a male customer.

When the passenger got in the car Sheather handed him cocaine and drove back to Coogee Bay Road, where he pulled over at the kerb and the man got out of the vehicle.

Unaware he was being watched, the customer was then confronted by police who performed a search and found him in possession of a bag of cocaine.

During a search of the man's phone police uncovered his text exchanges with a main number used by the drug syndicate to receive orders.  

After discovering one of their customers had been arrested, Cowan frantically called his two drug runners.

'So what happened last night is... some c**t got grabbed at Vicar Street,' Cowan told the pair.

'Yeah because the guy that got grabbed had our f**king number, so I've changed the whole f**king run number.

'I don't think anything bad happened but better (to) be safe than sorry.' 

But unbeknown to Cowan, police were listening to their every word and were able to begin tracking ingoing and outgoing calls to their new phone number.

As the orders flowed in every weekend police were police listening.  

In total police say they lawfully intercepted 30,000 communications, including some 2,600 phone calls between the trio.  

Hoping to avoid detection from officers, the trio used code words or slang for drugs.

They also operated a buy now, pay later scheme which they referred to as 'ticks' or 'T'. 

When getting direction from Cowan, both Sheather and Day would be told: 'You are just collecting "T"'. 

Raids by police from Strike Force Boorara at four addresses uncovered $760,000 in cash, various amounts of drugs and pill-presses.

In one Coles re-usable shopping bag they located $147,300, while in another black Platypus shoes bag was $170,000 and a one kilogram block of cocaine.

Police also searched cars used by the three men to deliver drugs, including Cowan's girlfriend's vehicle.

Day, a young tennis coach, told police he had become involved in the syndicate in a bid to earn some extra income.

He claimed he tried cocaine for the first time six months before he was arrested, but within a matter of a few weeks was using it daily. 

Day's co-accused then put 'pressure' on him to supply the drugs, he told police. 

He claimed he had only been a drug runner 'a handful of times', but records show he delivered cocaine on 22 occasions.

Cowan has pleaded guilty to knowingly directing a criminal group, supplying a large commercial quantity of prohibited drug and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Sheather pleaded guilty to supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and participating in a criminal group, while Day pleaded guilty to supplying an indictable quantity of a prohibited drug and participating in a criminal group.

All three will return to the NSW District Court on September 13 to be sentenced.

Source: Daily Mail

Powered by NewsAPI.org

Keywords:

Sydney • Australia Day • Cocaine • Sydney • Cocaine • Peter Cowan (writer) • Kingston, Jamaica • Stephen Day (British politician) • Australia Day • Easter • Bondi, New South Wales • Coogee, New South Wales • Bronte, New South Wales • District Court of New South Wales • Illegal drug trade • Police • Surveillance • Mail Online • Cocaine • Australia Day • Easter • Holiday • Time • Radar • Cocaine • Volkswagen Golf • Cocaine • Vehicle • Police • Cocaine • Telephone • Police • Vicar Street • Yeah! (Usher song) • Police • Police • Fraud • Slang • Boorara, Western Australia • Shopping bag • Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor • Kilogram • Cocaine • Tennis • Cocaine • Recreational drug use • Police • Illegal drug trade • Cocaine • Plea • Organized crime • Commercial law • Drug prohibition law • Crime • Commerce • Drug prohibition law • Organized crime • Indictment • Drug prohibition law • District Court of New South Wales •