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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-0...icking/6744426

Racing champion Brett Stevens guilty of drug trafficking

Posted about 10 hours ago


Former Australian drag racing champion Brett Stevens has been found guilty of producing and trafficking ecstasy.

The 50-year-old was on trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court accused of masterminding a $1.2 million ecstasy trafficking ring between 2007 and 2009.

On Wednesday, the jury found Stevens guilty of producing and trafficking a dangerous drug, though not guilty of supplying the drug.

Stevens, or "Skunk" as he is also known, was an Australian drag racing champion before retiring in 2008.

A year later he was arrested with police alleging he was at the centre of a large ecstasy operation involving tens of thousands of pills and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Prosecutor Daniel Boyle alleged Stevens was the ring leader of the drug operation.

"It will be alleged that Stevens was a puppet master in running his entrepreneurial drug business and was able to coordinate the running of the business without much hands on contact," Mr Boyle said during the trial in July.

"While he successfully distanced himself from the operation, he is inextricably intertwined with others in the trafficking, production and supply of drugs."

The alleged drug operation ran between July 2007 and February 2009 and was said to have produced up to 100,000 ecstasy pills a week, and to supply areas throughout Queensland.

Stevens' arrest followed an electronic surveillance operation, involving telephone intercepts and video surveillance, which Queensland police ran for several months.

His defence barrister Stephen Courtney claimed it was a complex case, relying heavily on circumstantial evidence and that there were no clear recordings of drug dealings.