A Wollongong bricklayer who turned to drugs after a horror workplace injury left him with severe arthritis was busted selling tens of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine in an undercover police sting, a court has heard.
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Police will allege they secretly monitored Brent Rabbitte as he sold large quantities of cocaine from homes in Dapto, Wollongong and Towradgi in multiple separate transactions between November last year and April this year.
Rabbitte, a former Dapto High School student and once-promising junior rugby league player who represented NSW in high school, allegedly collected tens of thousand of dollars in payments from the illegal trade, allowing him to live a "life of luxury, well beyond his means".
Police will allege he had "significant unexplained wealth" and used some of the ill-gotten funds in March this year to buy a 2013 model Mercedes E36 AMG, worth $51,500.
Documents tendered to Wollongong Local Court on Thursday said officers from the South Eastern Regional enforcement Squad set up Strike Force Kniepp in September last year to investigate Rabbitte's alleged drug activity.
The court heard detectives used "covert evidence gathering techniques" to secretly monitor and record Rabbitte as he supplied party drugs throughout the region.
It will be alleged one of Rabbitte's regular customers was an undercover police informant, who made regular purchases of cocaine and MDMA.
On the morning of November 20, Rabbitte allegedly supplied the informant with two bags of white powder in exchange for $5,500 outside a house in Dapto.
The bags were subsequently seized by police, weighed and tested. The substance was found to be cocaine, weighing in at 27.81g and with a purity of 47 per cent.
It is alleged two more trades took place at the Dapto home on November 27 and December 5.
Both allegedly involved similar quantities of cocaine to the first exchange, but also included amounts of MDMA.
Rabbitte allegedly made further sales to the same informant twice in April, once at his home address on Gipps Street and the second outside a house in Towradgi.
It is alleged he charged $12,000 for 54g of cocaine on April 18, then sold another 27g bag for $6,000 on April 22.
Officers swooped on Rabbitte on Wednesday evening as he sat in the Mercedes inside the garage of his apartment complex.
Police said they took hold of Rabbitte but as they tried to remove him from the car, he allegedly threw his mobile phone down a deep stormwater drain pit next to the vehicle.
The phone became submerged in about 30cm of water but detectives were able to be retrieved it.
Meanwhile, police raided Rabbitte's unit, allegedly discovering two rifle bullets, 2.3g of ice, 17g of cocaine, $2,000 in cash and a doctor's prescription pad from Surfside Medical Centre.
Rabbitte was charged with eight counts of individual drug supply and one count of ongoing drug supply, as well as knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime and possessing ammunition.
He was remanded in custody overnight and faced court on Thursday where he sought release on bail.
Defence barrister Steven Boland told the court his client had been a "very productive member of society" who had worked as a refractory bricklayer throughout Australia and overseas before suffering a workplace accident three years ago.
He said Rabbitte's serious injuries had prevented his return to work and he was now on a disability support pension for "severe arthritis and cellulitis", which at its worst prevented him from being able to put his own shoes on.
He said Rabbitte had developed depression and turned to drugs, leaving him with "quite significant addiction issues".
He said Rabbitte's parents would agree to put up a $10,000 cash surety to secure their son's release and he could live with his mother in Koonawarra and report to police daily.
Magistrate Claire Girotto granted Rabbitte "extremely strict bail" including the $10,000 surety, noting he had not committed any further offences since April.
The case will return to court in October.