The fifth member of an Illawarra drug syndicate was recorded speaking "freely" about supplying 'ice' and liquid ecstasy to street-level buyers, a court has heard.
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Jesse Kinniment, aged 32, was arrested early Sunday morning in the gaming room of Corrimal Hotel after a two-day manhunt.
The Illawarra man was refused bail in Wollongong Local Court on Monday after he was charged with four counts of supplying prohibited drugs amid allegations he was a street-level supplier for a syndicate that sold GBL, commonly known as "liquid ecstasy", and methylamphetamine to drug users.
Wollongong drug unit investigators started looking into the supply of meth and Gamma-butyrolactone, GBL, in the region which culminated in sweeping arrests of four people on Thursday.
Emily Provost, Aaron Fairbairn along with co-accused, Clem Tartaro and Bradley Murray were all refused bail on Friday.
Police issued a warrant for Kinniment's arrest on Thursday and he allegedly deliberately avoided capture for two days.
In documents tendered to court, detectives used physical and covert surveillance along with telephone intercepts to monitor several members of the group, including Kinniment, who they allege sold drugs on a daily basis to a wide customer base throughout the Wollongong and Lake Illawarra regions.
It is alleged Kinniment received payment from his customers through electronic transfer website, PayID.
Police allege Kinniment spoke "freely" about his alleged drug supply and own drug use, as well as used common code words for the meth such as "rocks", and "drinks" and "beers" when referring to GBL.
Kinniment is accused of supplying meth on at least 41 occasions between June 17 and July 12, with a total weight of 25.75 grams for a value of $25,750.
"There's a plethora of evidence captured through the lawful interception of the accused's mobile telecommunications service in which he speaks freely and unguarded about his drug supply trade," the documents said.
In a separate occasion, police intercepted a call on June 20 between Kinniment and an associate, where the pair agreed that Kinniment would supply a buyer with one ounce (28.4 grams) of meth for $10,000.
Shortly after the agreement, Kinniment allegedly called his upline drug suppliers to source that amount of drugs.
Police allege the transaction did not proceed as the buyer pulled out of the deal and instead bought a smaller amount.
On June 21, Kinniment allegedly agreed to supply a man with 10 millilitres of GBL, before they met at a petrol station on Flinders Street, Wollongong.
On another occasion, Kinniment is accused of agreeing to supply a buyer with two balls (seven grams) worth of meth for $2500 on July 17, with Murray allegedly going to make the exchange at Bulli on behalf of Kinniment.
Kinniment and Murray allegedly agreed to rip off the buyer by supplying impure ice but before they met up, the buyer cancelled the exchange.
In court on Monday, defence lawyer Adam Booker said his client needed to be released from custody to care for his elderly grandfather, whose house he could live at.
Mr Booker said Kinniment could comply with all strict bail conditions placed on him, however, due to the strength of the prosecution case, Magistrate Jillian Kiely refused to grant him release.
Mr Booker said his client denied the allegations and suggested the telephone intercepts did not show Kinniment was referring to the sale of drugs and claimed he talked a lot of "rubbish" while on the phone.
In court, Kinniment said he had a drug problem and wanted to "fix my life" by attending a drug rehabilitation program.
"This [jail] is where I'm at my worst," he said.
"I just want to fix my life ... I will do whatever you deem necessary and I'll take accountability for my actions."
Kinniment, who allegedly uses ice and GBL daily, was on bail during the supply allegations.
The case will return to court on September 30.
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