TWO drug dealers exposed in one of the biggest drug operations ever undertaken by New England detectives will spend up to nine years in jail.
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Daniel Gallaher and Marcus James Bruno Crane were tracked by undercover detectives as part of a Strike Force Ansae – a secret operation set-up to bring down those behind the supply of cannabis, MDMA, amphetamine and cocaine across the Northern Tablelands.
The Armidale pair were forced to watch one another as one of the biggest jail sentences handed down for local drug dealing in several years was read out in a Sydney court this week.
For the first time, Fairfax Media can reveal the secret operation used to catch the pair, which was the largest ever undertaken by New England detectives.
During a nine-month investigation, using phone taps and surveillance as well as an undercover officer, police compiled a brief of evidence against the pair that exposed a commercial quantity of drugs destined for local streets.
Commercial quantities of drugs supplied
Crane, a former Armidale school student, regularly changed his mobile phone in an attempt to avoid detection.
Gallaher “was the high-level supplier” of drugs to Crane, and also regularly sourced new phones “and provided these phone services to the offender to help him avoid detection by police.”
According to court documents, Crane and Gallaher supplied 3,100 MDMA tablets and capsules which is more than the large commercial quantity between October, 2014, and January, 2015.
In a one-month period in 2014, the pair supplied 600 MDA tablets, and a month later supplied 206g of methylamphetamine.
They also supplied 28g of cocaine and 53g of amphetamine. Crane also supplied pounds of cannabis to “numerous members of his local supply network”, totalling almost 9.5kg in four months across the Armidale, Guyra and Inverell areas.
Gallaher, who had a house in Armidale and also stayed with family in Port Macquarie, supplied the cannabis to Crane each time.
Armidale detectives swoop
Gallaher was arrested when Armidale detectives swooped on the Pacific Highway on March 10, 2015, where investigators revealed they had been tracking his drug-dealing efforts for months.
He’s been behind bars ever since. When they searched his car, police found several mobile phones including the one he used to contact Crane, as well as $8,000 in cash.
Crane was working in Townsville on the same date and was arrested.
At the time, he made several attempts to contact Gallaher and was extradited back to Armidale.
Police carried out five search warrants, including four in Armidale, where two replica handguns and 47g of methylamphetamine was seized by detectives.
Years behind bars
In a sentencing hearing in Sydney this week, Judge Michael King said a lengthy sentence had to be imposed not only to punish the pair, but to deter others from drug dealing.
Judge King handed Gallaher a nine-year term in prison with a non-parole period of six years for three charges including supplying more than a large commercial quantity of drugs. Three other drug supply charges and dealing with the proceeds of crime were also taken into account.
After time served, he will be eligible for parole in 2021, but will have to forfeit $82,500 to police after they successfully applied for a confiscation order for the proceeds of crime.
Crane was handed a head sentence of eight-and-a-half years for three drug supply charges while three others were taken into account.
He will be eligible for parole after five years and six months, but won’t be released until the same time as Gallaher, after he spent time on bail.
Pair tracked by undercover detectives
Throughout the lengthy operation, detectives tracked Crane and Gallaher as they supplied illegal drugs to one-another, and then on-sold to low-level dealers.
An undercover operative was used and contacted Crane for drugs in October, 2014, and in the first instance bought two pounds of cannabis and 100 esctasy tablets for $4,000.
Undercover police purchased cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy tablets in December, during an Armidale meeting.
But the drugs were never exchanged, with Crane telling Gallaher “he was spooked by a car and did not complete the transaction”.
Gallaher collected the drugs, which were hidden in the Armidale State Forest, off Rockvale Rd. He then “did laps” of Crane’s house “to look for police”, who were watching the entire time.
Police tried to source drugs again, and despite suspicions about the officer, the pair continued to on-sell drugs.
In December, 2014, Crane and Gallaher met in Bellingen and exchanged 206g of methylamphetamine, and in other intercept phone taps, made arrangements “to obtain 1,000 ecstasy tablets which would then be sold”.
In one conversation, Gallaher told the undercover operative “he was ‘the boss’ and explained to her how he wanted her to place the order” and what amounts she would be charged.
And in another exchange that police intercepted, Crane took $37,000 in exchange for drugs.