Probation for child drug trafficker’s sophisticated Snapchat racket

A TEENAGER’S hopes of pursuing a legal career remain intact despite pleading guilty to drug trafficking offences.

The girl, 18, was 17 with 42 customers on her books when she was charged last year.

The teen had been studying for a law degree at a southeast university before she fell into drug use and trafficking, the Supreme Court was told.

It was a rare case of the sentencing of a child drug trafficker. The maximum penalty for drug trafficking for an adult is 25 years’ jail, but for a juvenile it is seven years’ detention.

The teen was arrested when police attended a disturbance in Newmarket in March 2020 and found evidence of drug trafficking on her phone.

Crown prosecutor Jane Shaw told the court the girl also had 32g of cannabis and 16.4g of psylocibin mushrooms, known as “magic mushrooms”, plus tablets and drug paraphernalia.

Ms Shaw said the phone analysis showed the girl had been trafficking in various drugs including cannabis, MDMA and mushrooms, for herself and also assisting two other drug dealers.

Ms Shaw said the girl, who then lived on the Gold Coast, would advertise and seek drug orders on Snapchat and had a base of 42 customers.

She was mainly a “street level” dealer, but also sold larger amounts, including “pounds’’ of cannabis and MDMA pills.

Ms Shaw said on one day in February last year the girl recorded sales of $930 and a profit of $160. She said the girl made admissions to police and engaged in a restorative justice process before her sentence, attending counselling sessions.

The girl’s defence counsel said she had excelled at school despite a difficult childhood and had obtained a partial scholarship to a university.

She began her studies but things “fell apart” when she met people who introduced her to drugs, the barrister said.

Since being charged, the girl had deferred her university studies and moved to Brisbane, away from drug associates.

Justice Frances Williams took into account the girl’s lack of criminal history and the steps she had taken to get her life back on track.

Justice Williams sentenced her to three years’ probation, saying it would reflect the seriousness of the offending and offer her a longer period of support. The girl pleaded guilty to four offences and was sentenced to three years’ probation, with no criminal conviction recorded.