Illawarra drug kingpin Beric Burns confesses to million-dollar meth operation

Beric 'Bez' Burns and his then lover Natascha Consigli came undone after detectives started Strike Force Tower and Kimbriki in 2021 to investigate meth supply across the South Coast.

The pair were caught red-handed through phone taps, physical surveillance and listening devices installed inside their Albion Park Rail storage unit.

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Burns dialled into Wollongong Local Court from custody on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to a string of crimes including two counts of supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Police listened in on daily phone calls between Burns, 55, and Logan Figg - one of his main clients who on-sold meth to his own large customer base - between August and September 2021.

Burns peddled 557 grams of meth to Figg across several weeks, with the pair meeting at a Warilla house, veterinary clinic or McDonald's restaurant to seal their deals.

Consigli was also often instructed to meet with Figg to sell him the product - which he bought in amounts from 3.54 grams to 56 grams.

Burns and Consigli were recorded sorting through their drug profits, with Consigli saying counting the money "makes me happy".

"I miss playing with it," Consigli said from inside the unit as she packed $100 notes into boxes during December 2021.

Detectives swooped on the pair and arrested them at their Warilla address on December 16, before raiding the storage unit and unearthed $943,000 and three kilograms of cannabis.

Burns sat quietly in the audio-visual link suite as his defence lawyer Abbas Soukie confirmed his client's guilty pleas, and applied to have his sentence heard before the same judge that sentenced Figg.

Burns will receive his punishment date on October 27.

Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.