A 21-year-old man has confessed to supplying almost 350 grams of ecstasy in his role as a runner for a party drug syndicate operating in the Shellharbour area.
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Jarrod Turk pleaded guilty to a single commercial drug supply charge during a recent appearance in Wollongong Local Court after prosecutors agreed to withdraw five additional supply charges against him.
A set of agreed facts tendered to Wollongong Local Court said police set up Strike Force Tulare in January 2019 to investigate drug supply around the Shellharbour city centre.
Using covert and electronic surveillance, officers recorded Turk making several drug deals with police moles in July and August.
Further deals with an undercover police officer saw Turk supply 339.3 grams of ecstasy, also known as MDMA, between August 15 and October 17.
The facts said Turk was introduced to a buyer - who turned out to be a police witness - on August 15 by a co-accused, who was going to be away from home the following week and wanted Turk to continue his business.
Turk received a text message from the police mole on August 22 and the pair negotiated the sale of an ounce (27.7grams) of ecstasy five days later. Turk met the undercover operative in the carpark of McDonalds Albion Park Rail on the evening of August 27 and sold him an ounce of MDMA for $2,200. The drugs were later tested and discovered to have a purity of 77 per cent.
Turk and the same police witness were involved in another deal on September 5, which also took place in the carpark of the McDonalds at Albion Park Rail. The undercover operative paid $2,100 for an ounce of MDMA, with the exchange captured on the store's CCTV cameras.
A third deal was due to take place a week later involving two ounces (56 grams) of MDMA, for which the undercover operative agreed to pay $3,800, however Turk contacted the police mole just before they were due to meet saying he had approached three suppliers but was having trouble sourcing the ecstasy for a "reasonable price".
Police made an "operational assessment" not to proceed with the exchange at the time and the undercover operative told Turk he'd contact him in a few days to place another order.
The fourth supply took place on September 24. Turk sold the police mole 87.7grams of ecstasy for $5,500. A fifth supply occurred on October 17 involving 139.9grams of MDMA for $9,000, although an associate of Turk's made the exchange himself.
Turk was arrested a short time later and taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station where he made full admissions.
Turk remains behind bars and will face sentencing later this year.
