BROKER DRUG RING LINK
AN office in a shiny Southport CBD tower was allegedly used to deal thousands of dollars worth of cocaine as part of a drug ring, a court was told.
Mortgage broker George Boulos faced Southport Magistrates Court yesterday on more than 240 charges including drug trafficking, supply and possession between July 2015 and early 2017.
AN office in a shiny Southport CBD tower was allegedly used to deal thousands of dollars worth of cocaine as part of a drug ring, a court was told.
Mortgage broker George Boulos faced Southport Magistrates Court yesterday on more than 240 charges including drug trafficking, supply and possession between July 2015 and early 2017.
He was arrested after a comprehensive investigation by the Crime and Corruption Commission which included covert surveillance, bugging of phones and offices, and drug busts as part of Operation Altana, the court was told.
It is alleged footage from a hidden camera in Boulos’s office showed multiple people sniffing white powder from his desk on different occasions.
Boulos allegedly came to the CCC’s attention after he was suspected of supplying drugs to Vadim Volkhov, the target of a separate sting.
Former CCC detective Christopher Walsh, who led the investigation, said Volkhov was seen going to Boulos’s Southport Central Towers office twice in July 2015 before allegedly selling cocaine to another person on Ferry Rd, Southport.
During the hearing yesterday, Detective Walsh was quizzed by Boulos’s barrister Craig Eberhardt about a large number of the drug supply charges. In those instances, police did not have hard evidence of the drug deal, just that the person had visited Boulos’s Southport office.
Detective Walsh said the charges were based on a pattern of behaviour.
Boulos is accused of supplying one gram of cocaine to Kevork Zanian multiple times throughout the surveillance period.
The court was told there were a number of occasions Zanian visited Boulos’s office after a short “friendly” conversation. It is alleged this was to deal drugs.
“On many occasions we have intercepted drugs (after) a visit of Zanian to the defendant’s office,” Detective Walsh said.
Detective Walsh alleged there was a pattern of Zanian asking Boulos for about a gram, which he would on-sell.
Boulos is also accused of selling 14g of cocaine to Gold Coast property developer Steven Seabrook multiple times.
“Seabrook, unlike Zanian, he was well-resourced and he was able to hold a quantity,” Detective Walsh said.
“He would hold a bulk supply and on supply.”
The court was told police linked Boulos and Seabrook after they heard Seabrook tell David Green that Boulos would provide him with 14g of the drug regularly.
“Boulos’s product wasn’t good enough for (Seabrook) any more and he decided to source a drug which was coming from Canada (through Green),” Detective Walsh said.
Seabrook was sentenced to six years prison in August last year after he pleaded guilty to trafficking drugs.
Coffee machine salesman Green was sentenced to 18 months prison with immediate parole after he pleaded guilty in November last year to supplying the drug to Seabrook.
Boulos’s committal hearing was adjourned to June 14.