Jail for party pill peddler
Watch out for critters in danger
A DRUG dealer has been called a “slow learner” after he kept pushing party pills throughout Cairns despite many run-ins with police.
New Zealand national Zayne Pierre Thompson, 27, was jailed for three years. He will spend a 12-month stint behind bars.
The Cairns Supreme Court was told he was a street-level dealer who sold what he thought was MDMA to about 30 people between April and November in 2016.
An analysis revealed it was MDA.
He continued to deal drugs despite a number of run-ins with police including raids on his home and being searched at the Cairns Amateurs in 2016. He then went on to make various deals in 2017 and was found with equipment used to make MDA caps.
“You’re a slow learner it seems,” Justice James Henry said.
The court was told he sold the drugs for between $20 and $30 each and even boasted about making $2000 in one night.
He pleaded guilty yesterday to trafficking, possessing and producing MDA.
Defence barrister Josh Trevino told the court his client had fallen in with a group of guys, who were into the party drug scene and began using.
His offending stemmed from that as a way to fund his lifestyle, the court heard.
“You were only a streetlevel dealer, not a high-end operator,” Justice Henry said.
He was granted a parole release after one third of the jail term, which is the standard discount for anyone who pleaded guilty in a somewhat timely manner.
Convictions were recorded. THE Far North is no stranger to endangered species, with urban development and feral cats and dogs putting our animals at risk.
Hartley's Crocodile Adventures mammal supervisor Emma Delarue has urged residents to be mindful of the human impact on endangered species today on National Threatened Species Day.
“Species like cassowaries are at risk because they’re more likely to come into contact with cars,” she said.
“Always keep an eye out and stick to the speed limit when driving and don’t feed one if you come across it.”
Hartley’s contains threatened or at-risk species including komodo dragons, radiated tortoises, cassowaries and the critically endangered cottontop tamarin, which they are attempting to breed.