An Illawarra carpenter busted carrying a gun down the font of his pants in the middle of the Wollongong CBD last year has admitted the weapon was part of a cache he hoped to use to help pay off a drug debt to local bikies worth tens of thousands of dollars.
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Daniel Tarvij, 21, was arrested in the middle of Keira Street after being dragged out of a vehicle on the afternoon of September 15 in dramatic scenes caught on camera.
Police were forced to dig into his trousers to recover a sawn-off .22 calibre rifle.
The firearm was unloaded at the time but was capable of being fired, police said.
The genesis of Tarvij’s crime was his own drug habit, which had become larger over time and forced him to turn to dealing as a way of sustaining his addiction.
He sourced his product through associations with the Lone Wolf outlaw motorcycle gang.
By the time police honed in on him in August last year, Tarvij had racked up a debt of more than $76,000.
He was secretly recorded trying to scare the cash out of customers who owed him for their own fixes.
In one exchange on August 28, Tarvij threatened to “end” one man if he didn’t pay up.
“I swear to God I will chop you up into little pieces you f—king c—t,” Tarvij said, eliciting a laugh from the customer and a few retaliatory threats.
In another exchange, Tarvij told a second client he knew “every single Lone Wolf” near where the person lived and to watch his back because he was “gonna get got”.
Tarvij was also recorded trying to acquire firearms to pass on to the gang as partial repayment for his debt.
Following his arrest, police searched Tarvij’s home in Gwynneville, uncovering a 303 rifle, a 223 Remington rifle, both of which had been previously reported stolen, and hundred of bullets.
Tarvij was charged with firearm offences and using a mobile phone to threaten to kill.
He pleaded guilty to each of the charges in court on Wednesday and was remanded in custody for sentencing in May.