A Hobart joiner has been jailed over his role in a drug trafficking ring that funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of methylamphetamine and cocaine into Tasmania.
Daniel Nicky Smith, 45, was sentenced this month to two years and three months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to trafficking charges stemming from his involvement between September and December 2018.
The Supreme Court heard Smith was a key link between a Sydney drug syndicate and a Hobart distribution network. He collected drugs from interstate couriers and helped move product worth well over $100,000.
The operation saw Sydney dealers Alexandra Kobelke, Taha Afyouni and Fahad Al-Dakak fly into Hobart with drugs hidden in their luggage or on their bodies, before setting up in city hotels as distribution bases.
Smith would meet the couriers, collect drugs for the Hobart market and deliver large sums of cash back to the Sydney group. On one occasion, he handed over at least $57,000.
Police surveillance also captured him brokering a $50,000 cocaine deal involving 10 ounces of the drug at Tolosa Park Dam in December 2018.
The court was told Smith’s descent into trafficking was fuelled by his own addiction, which began after his father’s death in 2016 and led to the breakdown of his marriage and joinery business.
“Your progress from having a successful business and family life to becoming involved in drug trafficking … are all attributable to this drug use,” Justice Kate Cuthbertson said.
Smith, who has been drug-free since 2021, will serve at least 12 months before being eligible for parole. Six months of his sentence was suspended.
The Sydney syndicate members previously received sentences ranging from 10 months to five years imprisonment.
