A young woman who hid methylamphetamine inside a coffee machine and used encrypted apps to run a sophisticated drug trafficking operation between Melbourne and Tasmania has been jailed for nearly three years.
The Supreme Court heard Madelon Lili Pace, 24, vacuum-sealed 306.31 grams of the drug into bags hidden inside the appliance before posting it to herself in Tasmania.
It was one of several trafficking incidents over a 10-month period, during which Pace used fake identities to fly between states and coordinated the operation using encrypted messaging apps like Wickr, Signal and Threema.
Justice Robert Pearce sentenced Pace to two years and nine months in prison after she pleaded guilty to trafficking a total of 582.15 grams of methylamphetamine and three litres of liquid G between September 2023 and July 2024.
The court was told Pace would buy drugs in Melbourne, package them in creative ways, then send parcels to transport depots and parcel lockers in Tasmania for collection.
In July 2024, police intercepted one of the packages containing the coffee machine, swapped the drugs for an inert substance and arrested Pace when she went to pick it up.
Her phone contained extensive evidence of drug sales, including 343.5 grams of meth and more than 20 litres of liquid G. She offered customers credit and supplied associates to resell the drugs.
Bank records showed deposits of $77,357.94 over seven months, while the street value of the drugs was estimated to be potentially over $600,000 depending on how they were sold.
Justice Pearce said Pace’s addiction to methylamphetamine, which began in 2019, had fuelled her offending.
“Ironically, despite your own addiction, you were unable to resist sale of a drug which fostered and encouraged addiction in others, thus subjecting them to the same terrible situation you found yourself in,” he said.
“Your trafficking was of a scale and nature which warrants a substantial term of imprisonment.”
The judge acknowledged her cooperation with police and early guilty plea and said rehabilitation was still possible if she tackled her addiction.
He also noted that her seriously ill mother “may die” while she is behind bars.
“I take that into account but it is a situation largely of your own making,” Pearce said.
Pace will be eligible for parole after serving half her sentence and must pay a $77,357.94 penalty matching her criminal proceeds.
Her sentence was backdated to August 2024 to reflect time already served.
