A Lone Wolf MC drug dealer-turned-police-informant has told how a $76,000 debt prompted him to turn to his accused gunrunner friend.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Strike force police pulled the informant, who can only be known as Mr Brown, out of a hotted-up car on Crown Street, Wollongong the afternoon of September 15, 2016. As passers-by stopped to stare, police placed him on the footpath and pulled a sawn-off .22 calibre rifle out of his pants.
Police allege Conor Lavan, who had exited the car moments before police swooped, offered the rifle and two other firearms to Mr Brown earlier that afternoon, after learning Lone Wolf members were after his long-time friend for the drug debt.
On Thursday, day three of Lavan’s trial in Wollongong District Court, the jury was played a recording of the call in which Lavan allegedly agrees to help his friend find 15 “roscoes” – allegedly guns – as partial repayment.
“The Lone Wolves just came here,” Mr Brown says, in the recording.
“Do you you want me to get you out of there?” a man, allegedly Lavan, responds.
“No, I spoke to them and I have ‘til tonight to bring them 15 roscoes, a car and 15 grand cash.”
“I’ve got two of them.”
“Two what? Cash?”
“Them.”
“Two of them. What do you have? Where abouts are you?”
“I’m at Mangerton.”
“I’ll come and see you.”
“Yeah come and see me ... We’ll sort something out and I’ll try and help you as much as I can.”
Mr Brown avoided Lavan’s gaze as he gave evidence for the Crown in Wollongong District Court on Wednesday and Thursday.
The jury heard his own prison sentence was reduced by about 15 per cent in exchange for the information he gave police.
“In the beginning I … didn’t really went to involve Conor in it but [I had] no choice,” he said.
In his statement to police, Mr Brown said he was present when Lavan attempted to sell the .223 and another firearm several months earlier.
He told police: “I needed to get some guns and I knew he [Lavan] would be able to help me out. Roscoes is a code word we use for guns.”
Police found a .303 rifle, a .223 Remington rifle and ammunition during a search of Mr Brown’s Gipps St, Wollongong home.
They allegedly found Lavan’s fingerprints on the .223 and another recovered firearm which was reported stolen from a Pringle Road, Fairy Meadow address in June 2016.
Detective Senior Constable Thomas Stacivva, of the State Crime Command’s drugs and firearms squad, told the court Mr Brown was drug-affected when arrested and he waited several weeks before interviewing him in prison.
“He broke down and started crying. He told me he wanted to change his life, that he was heading to a dead end.”
Detectives confronted Lavan with Mr Brown’s statement in an interview on October 31. He denied the allegations.
“I’m confused, I’m angry right now,” he said.
“This is beyond bulls-it.
“I’m the one who collects the money for him [Mr Brown]… but this is like a new f-cking level of, like, treacherous.”
Lavan told police he had a poor memory of some past events as he had been using heroin, methylamphetamine and “G”.
Asked how he was paying for the drugs, he said, “drugs are free … if you walk into some places, just out of custom they’ll give you some food. It’s just like that man. Wherever I was it was there … it was just sitting there”.
Elsewhere in his interviews, he denied his offer to provide “two of them” referred to guns.
“Whatever else has happened, I’m not the type of person that fucks around with that sort of sh-t.
“It could be two anything … it was two cars.
Asked what “roscoes” were, he replied, “It’s code, I’m pretty sure”.
“What for?”
“I don’t know.”
The trial continues before Judge Andrew Haesler on Friday.