Melbourne drug dealers 2024: Stripper Karlie Cook, kickboxer Kayne Clarke, Denis Shishkin done
A mum, a stripper, a kickboxer, a chiropractor, lovers and an ex-navy sailor are Melbourne’s most prolific drug dealers of 2024.
Meet the new breed of Melbourne drug dealer who aren’t just slinging on the street corner or in the old beaten up commission house.
These dealers who went down in 2024 include a cosmopolitan mix of types such as the stripper who marketed fake Xanax online, the rehab mum who moved smack out of a cafe and a chiropractor who was a key player in encrypted drug groups.
REHAB MUM’S CAFE DRUG RACKET
Melbourne mum Veronica Sabo ran a heroin trafficking empire out of a St Kilda cafe.
Sabo fronted the County Court this month after pleading guilty to trafficking heroin and attempting to possess a marketable quantity of cocaine.
Sabo was snared alongside her boyfriend Christopher Noti and drug ring player Duncan Peck following Joint Organised Crime Task Force investigation ‘Operation Rhyolite’.
The court heard Sabo and Noti slung smack to Peck and others multiple times in August 2021.
Investigators also discovered an electronic note on Sabo’s phone which “suggests” the mum and Noti sold heroin to “other customers”.
However, police established Sabo and Noti sold to Peck “most frequently”.
The Peck deals included a period where more than $4000 of smack was sold between August 24 and August 31.
Police also established Sabo and Noti charged $200 for 0.3g of heroin and $350 for half a gram.
Sabo and her drug crony also slung gear to “local drug users” from Noti’s cafe at 52 Robe St St Kilda, the court was told.
Sabo and Peck also teamed up in an attempt to possess cocaine shipped into Australia via Hawaii.
The coke consignment was masked as ‘Children’s Board Game’ and bound for a Balaclava property.
Australian customs initially cleared the consignment but investigators who intercepted the cocaine asked it be sent back to FedEx.
A Border Force officer X-rayed and “partially deconstructed” the consignment.
The officer located a ‘Disney Eye Found It’ board game and a cocaine brick which weighed almost a kilo.
Police brought the hammer down and arrested Sabo, Noti and Peck on December 7, 2021.
Investigators raided Peck’s Bentleigh East home, Sabo’s St Kilda unit and Noti’s St Kilda cafe and seized drugs.
The court heard Sabo, a mother of three, now lives in Trentham and works as a rehab mentor at Windsor House Private.
The defence submitted Sabo was a “warrior” for other women at Windsor House Private.
Sabo will be sentenced at a later date.
Noti and Peck also pleaded guilty to drug offending and will be sentenced at later dates.
THAI-CONNECTED SMACK DEALER
International heroin trafficker Nicholas ‘Nic’ Procter who is linked to Thailand’s black market smack trade was taken down while gambling at Crown Casino.
Procter pleaded guilty in the County Court in October to importing a marketable quantity of heroin.
Procter wheeled and dealed in the heroin game while in Melbourne between July 31 and August 18 last year.
The court heard police pounced on Procter while he played pokies at Crown Casino on August 19.
Investigators arrested Procter with heroin in his possession before taking the Western Australian off for questioning.
Police also seized and analysed Procter’s phone which revealed further evidence of the drug dealer’s heroin racket.
Messages indicated a “parcel” had been posted to Western Australia on August 14, the court was told.
Victoria Police contacted Home Affairs which confirmed the parcel was en route from Thailand.
Australian Border Force seized the package in Perth which contained 350 grams of heroin concealed in toy robots and flasks.
The defence submitted Procter, who has priors for drug possession and fraud, had some “very dangerous friends”.
Procter was also “gambling heavily” in the weeks before his arrest, the court was told.
Procter, who was supported by family, grew up in Western Australia and worked as a carpenter.
The prosecution submitted Procter was “motivated by profit”.
Judge Michael Cahill said Procter was the “principal” in the drug racket.
Procter, who appeared via videolink from Fulham Correctional, will be sentenced at a later date.
KICKBOXER KO’D FOR COKE DEAL
Former undefeated champion Melbourne kickboxer Kayne Clarke was exposed as a key cog in a cocaine trafficking ring.
Clarke was sentenced in the County Court in November to a minimum 30-month jail term after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of cocaine.
Investigators latched on to Clarke after police unleashed a major covert investigation to snare drug dealer Bilal Mpinganjira.
The court heard a covert cop hooked up with Mpinganjira in late-2022 and asked the dealer if he knew any “connections for rack”.
Mpinganjira told the cop he was the “connection” and he only sold coke in “quarter key minimums”.
The pair, who messaged each other over several months, mainly discussed the cost of kilo cocaine blocks.
Mpinganjira later messaged Clarke and asked him if he had been able to “source” the cocaine.
“My mate just confirmed for the keg but he needs it by 1pm latest, Mpinganjira said.
Clarke then messaged a “third-party” known as ‘Cisco’ and told the person he needed a “proper key by 1pm latest”.
Clarke and Cisco exchanged messages that named several “connections from
whom they may be able to obtain the kilogram”, the court was told.
“We go … the money ready. Now. Can you go work on it right now please,” Clarke messaged Cisco.
Clarke then messaged Mpinganjira:
“Yes done bro, I’ll go see my mate in an hour or soon when he’s (up).”
Mpinganjira messaged Clarke back about two hours later:
“Hey my bro any update yet? His about to start off to head towards this way.”
Clarke then messaged Cisco and told him he needed the kilo “ASAP”.
“Need to get this deal bro whether we make money on this one or not,” Clarke said.
The court heard Cisco confirmed he was “meeting his supplier in 15 minutes” but then said the meet “fell through”.
Clarke and Cisco swapped messages with “ideas about where they could obtain the cocaine”.
Cisco also told Clarke to “be patient”.
“Bro its not about being patient,” Clarke responded.
“Its I need a key now … bro … I do not want to let this guy (down) then we loose (sic) out big time … He’s a big connect …”
Cisco told Clarke the deal was “no go” and “there’s nothing around”.
Clarke later told Mpinganjira he was able to get a full kilogram of ‘05 stamp’ cocaine
but he “wanted to test it first”.
Mpinganjira told Clarke if he “trusted the source, it would be fine”.
The pair made the hand-off about 4pm before Mpinganjira dropped Clarke off at Hunky Dory Fish & Chips Eaton Mall Oakleigh.
Cops arrested Mpinganjira shortly later and seized the cocaine.
The court heard Mpinganjira was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to major drug trafficking between December 2022 and August last year.
The person known as Cisco was investigated by police but “nothing came of it”, the court was told.
Police also approached Clarke at the fish and chip shop, walked him outside and arrested him.
The defence submitted Clarke was a kickboxing champ who wanted to be “known as the best”.
Clarke was jailed for a maximum three years and six months.
CHIROPRACTOR’S DOUBLE DRUG LIFE
Melbourne chiropractor Asher Sharp’s double life as a party drug kingpin unravelled after he was pinched importing ketamine and GHB.
Sharp was sentenced in the County Court in October to an 18-month suspended jail term after pleading guilty import a marketable quantity of drugs.
Sharp, who also pleaded guilty to trafficking Xanax, imported ketamine and GHB in three separate consignments via the Netherlands and Nigeria in August 2021.
A consignment of drugs was found hidden in a package marked as aloe vera water and addressed to Sharp’s alias ‘Aster Sharo’.
Authorities seized and examined the consignments then raided Sharp’s Bonbeach home on December 28.
Police searched the home and seized testosterone, 1,4 butanediol and a mobile phone which contained links to the Aster Sharo alias.
Investigators analysed the phone further and found messages which indicated Sharp peddled cocaine, Xanax and 1,4 butanediol between April and September 2021.
The court heard Sharp’s messages to multiple customers included drug slang terms ‘Juice’, coke, ‘MLs’ and Xannies or bricks for Xanax.
The communication also included references to drug amounts, cost and payment arrangements, the court was told.
Another customer who texted Sharp asked if the dealer had “zanys to sell”.
Sharp told the customer he had Xanax and the cost was $140 for 20, $180 for 30 or $300 for a bottle.
Police also discovered evidence Sharp was part of exclusive Signal Messenger drug groups including ‘Oxys/opiates MELB’.
The group description read: “This group is only for people who are vouched and locat (sic) to Melbourne to buy and sell oxys, and other opiates”.
The court heard Sharp was a talented chiropractor but took a break from the profession after he was charged.
Sharp, who plans to resume his chiropractor career, also suffered a serious shoulder injury which he said he “took a shit load of pills” to manage the pain.
Sharp, who must be of good behaviour for three years, was also handed a community correction order.
NAVY SAILOR’S HIGH-RISE DRUG OP
Former Royal Australian Navy sailor Brendan ‘Benny’ Bradshaw was sunk for a high-rise cocaine racket.
Bradshaw pleaded guilty at the County Court in October to trafficking cocaine.
Bradshaw was nabbed with drugs after police raided his city apartment on June 14 last year.
Australian Federal Police members, who also searched two vehicles linked to Bradshaw’s Mackenzie St apartment complex, seized multiple devices.
The court heard Bradshaw refused to grant authorities access to his devices including two champagne coloured iPhones.
Bradshaw, on remand at Barwon, also claimed he didn’t know who owned several of the phones found at his apartment.
The AFP, with the help of the dog squad, discovered and seized clip-sealed bags of cocaine and scales stashed behind the microwave.
Police also discovered vials of anabolic steroids and testosterone found throughout the apartment.
Bradshaw, who also pleaded guilty to drug possession, was caught with more than 200 grams of coke, about 1000 empty deal bags and cannabis.
The court heard Bradshaw has multiple criminal priors including a major NSW drug trafficking rap from 2013.
The defence submitted Bradshaw, a father, served in the navy for 12 years prior to getting into drugs and criminality.
Bradshaw, who has worked as a diver, personal trainer, labourer and ran his own construction business, wants to walk the straight and narrow and spend time with his daughter, the court heard
Bradshaw, who grew up in Townsville but lived in Sydney and Melbourne, will be sentenced at a later date.
STRIPPER MARKETED FAKE XANAX ONLINE
Melbourne stripper Karlie Cook sold roids and counterfeit Xanax which she marketed online with snazzy label designs and “great customer reviews”.
Cook was sentenced in the County Court in September to a minimum five years’ and two months’ jail after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs charges.
Cook was nabbed with an Aladdin’s cave of party drugs, testosterone and various chemicals and substances after authorities raided her Albanvale home in July 2022.
Police swarmed the home and seized various vials, chemicals, pills, an industrial pill press, bogus ID documents, cash, Viagra and a stack of other drugs.
Cook, who was smoking an ice-pipe when police raided her home, was also pinched with almost a kilo of MDMA and more than 10kg of testosterone and steroids.
Cops also seized assorted cash, fireworks, a taser, a baton, multiple mobile phones including a “drug phone”, multiple tick books and various “printed labels”.
Cook was also caught with 58,000 Phenazolam tablets weighing more than 20kg which the court heard was known as ‘fake Xanax’ and worth $320,000 on the street.
The court heard Cook, who also pleaded guilty to trafficking Phenazolam, used the labels on her bottled homemade drugs to “make them look genuine”.
Investigators called in the Victoria Police Clandestine Lab unit after a “drug preparation area” which included a “saucepan on a hotplate” was discovered in a bedroom.
Clan Lab cops advised police at the scene that Cook’s drug kitchen was a “steroid processing plant”.
Cook, a glamorous fitness fanatic, told cops she made money with “great difficulty” through odd bookkeeping “bits and pieces”.
Cook also claimed “most of her cash” came from “pokies winnings”, the court was told.
Cook told police “people come and go from her house all the time”.
“There’s always people there,” Cook said.
Cook was targeted by police after the Australian Border Force intercepted almost 3kg of testosterone which had been sent to the country via China between February 25 and March 9.
The three separate testosterone consignments were bound for Cook’s Albanvale home, another Albanvale property and a Sunshine property intercepted between February 25 and march 9.
Investigators analysed Cook’s phone and discovered conversations between her and others who lived at the Sunshine and Albanvale properties.
The court heard the messages related to the “sale and purchase of drugs”.
Police also discovered an ad Cook posted online for her fake Xanax business which included prices and ”great reviews” from purported customers.
Cook also ordered substances to manufacture pills and did her bottled products up to look like legitimate Pfizer branded Xanax.
Cook also complained about a competitor using her “label design” to advertise drugs in a group called “Drugs of Melbourne”.
“Yep I’m crushed and it’s worst (the competitor) has started selling my label design we have already seen an ad in the drug group,” Cook said in a message seen by police.
The court heard Cook, who grew up and completed high school in Geelong, studied nursing at the University of Ballarat.
Cook later became a stripper who abused cocaine and meth but had recently worked in traffic management, the court was told.
Judge Diana Manova said Cook’s “sophisticated” drug dealing was “very serious”.
“You were actively and knowingly engaged in sourcing drugs (and other materials) to enable you to sell purportedly genuine pharmaceutical drugs and a complex variety of steroids and other drugs on the black market for profit,” Judge Manova said.
Cook was jailed for a maximum of nine years and four months.
PELICAN GRIEF: DRUG DEALER LOVERS
A Melbourne couple jumped out of bed, threw drugs out the window and then pretended to be asleep after they heard police raiding their love lair.
Emily Mayer and Jessica Wilkins pleaded guilty at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in October to trafficking meth, MDMA and 1,4 butanediol.
Mayer and Wilkins, who the court heard were in a de facto relationship, were pinched with a bevy of drugs and cash at their Werribee home on April 24 this year.
The lovebirds’ Pelican Place drug nest was “well-known to police”, the court was told.
The court heard police raided the home and discovered Wilkins and Mayer pretending to be asleep in bed together.
Investigators searched the home and seized various drugs including meth, bute, MDMA, cannabis and ketamine.
The meth and MDMA were split up into deal bags, the bute was distributed among smaller bottles and some of the drugs were found stashed inside a pillow case.
Police also seized cash, a tick book, scales, ice pipes, multiple iPhones and multiple CCTV cameras and SD cards.
CCTV footage of the raid depicted Mayer and Wilkins “quickly jump out of bed in a panicked response” and yell “cops” as police executed their warrant.
The court heard the footage depicted Wilkins and Mayer quickly stash meth and MDMA into a pillow case, throw cannabis out of a window then pretend to go back to sleep.
Magistrate Donna Bakos said the couple’s offending was “clearly serious”.
”You were (both) also motivated by financial gain … all of the drug trafficking was conducted in and from your bedroom …,” Magistrate Bakos said.
“Drug trafficking and drug-related offending is objectively serious and your sentences must reflect the harm such offending causes to the community …”
Mayer, who appeared via videolink from Dame Phyllis Frost, was convicted and sentenced to time served – five months – and handed a 12-month community correction order.
Wilkins was convicted and sentenced to time served – 78 days – and handed a 12-month CCO.
POSH BOY SOLD DRUGS TO KEEP GF HAPPY
Posh Melbourne private schoolboy Denis Shishkin sold coke and meth so he could fund his lavish lifestyle and keep his “capricious” girlfriend happy.
Shishkin was sentenced in the County Court in September to a minimum two-year jail term after pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of meth.
Shishkin, who also pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine, was nabbed after police raided his Doncaster apartment on July 26, 2022.
Investigators were forced to ram in the door after Shishkin refused police entry to the Sovereign Point apartment owned by his parents.
Police searched the apartment and seized large amounts of meth, cocaine and an imitation Glock handgun all stashed above the kitchen range hood.
Shishkin was also pinched with $9000 cash, scales, multiple iPhones, valium, ketamine and deal bags.
Shishkin was also caught with two Rolex Submariner watches and a silver and blue Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore watch which all turned out to be fake.
Police also analysed one of Shishkin’s iPhones which contained “numerous messages relating to drug trafficking.
The court heard Shishkin sold drugs to support his habit which exploded after his older brother’s death “caused him to spiral downwards”.
However, Judge Peter Rozen highlighted Shishkin attended “some of the most prestigious schools in Melbourne”,
Shishkin’s schooling also included a year at Geelong Grammar boarding school Timbertop which costs $85,000 to attend.
Shishkin was also able to attain his “dream job” buying and selling high performance vehicles, before his coke habit killed that gig.
The court heard Shishkin had been living the high life while selling high end cars and doing cocaine and he “needed to keep up appearances”.
Shishkin also needed “large sums of money” to fund his cocaine addiction and keep his “capricious” girlfriend who he thought would leave him if he couldn’t continue to “lavish her with a high-end lifestyle”, the court was told.
Shishkin was jailed for a maximum of three years and five months.
