Adelaide: Drug runner caught more heroin in bedroom normally seized in entire year in Aussie state

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How a drug runner was caught with more heroin in his bedroom than is normally seized in an entire year in one Aussie state

  • A drug dealer was caught in possession of large amounts of illegal drugs
  • Stuart Farquhar among dozens of arrests made over drug trafficking syndicate 
  • South Australian Police found him in possession of 674grams of heroin
  • The state seized just 595g of the dangerous street drug in 2019-20 alone 

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A drug dealer was caught in possession of more heroin in his bedroom than South Australian authorities have seized in an entire year.

Stuart Farquhar, 31, was arrested on June 7 last year alongside dozens of other people in relation to a major drug operation.

SA Police attended his home in Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills, discovering him in possession of two Coles bags full of crystals.

Inside were 2.625kilograms of methamphetamine and 674grams of heroin. That dwarfed the 595g the state seized in 2019-20, according to its Illicit Drug Data Report.

A drug dealer was caught in possession of more heroin in his bedroom than South Australian authorities have seized in an entire year

A drug dealer was caught in possession of more heroin in his bedroom than South Australian authorities have seized in an entire year

The sting was uncovered from the encrypted AN0M app, which was instead being operated and monitored by police

The sting was uncovered from the encrypted AN0M app, which was instead being operated and monitored by police

The sting was uncovered from the encrypted AN0M app, which was instead being operated and monitored by police

Farquhar pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges, and earlier this month tearfully thanked a District Court for handing him a light sentence, The Advertiser reported.

The 31-year-old will spend four years and six months behind bars, with a non-parole period of three years and seven months.

Just before 6am on June 7 last year, officers from Operation Ironside raided his home.

After entering the house Farquhar could be seen peering through the door, before shutting it on police.

They broke into the room, finding him lying on his bed “noticeably distressed and began breathing heavily”. 

Inside a metal container were the two Coles bags filled with illegal drugs.

Stuart Farquhar, 31, was arrested on June 7 last year alongside dozens of other people in relation to a major drug operation

Stuart Farquhar, 31, was arrested on June 7 last year alongside dozens of other people in relation to a major drug operation

Stuart Farquhar, 31, was arrested on June 7 last year alongside dozens of other people in relation to a major drug operation

Farquhar’s drug dealing was uncovered via the encrypted AN0M app, which criminals were using, not knowing it was being operated and monitored by police.

Messages from the app showed Farquhar had purchased a van fitted out with hidden compartments to stash drugs and cash.

Court documents, reported by The Advertiser, showed he was part of a huge syndicate that was shipping methamphetamine, or ‘ice’, into Adelaide.

The 31-year-old met a truck on January 4, 2021 before swapping $37,500 cash for 20kg of the drug, court documents said.

That same day he dropped another 5kg of the drug to another person involved in the scheme.

On January 24, he met another truck and left with 10kg of meth.

SA Police attended his home in Mount Barker, discovering him in possession of two Coles bags full of crystals - meth and heroin

SA Police attended his home in Mount Barker, discovering him in possession of two Coles bags full of crystals - meth and heroin

SA Police attended his home in Mount Barker, discovering him in possession of two Coles bags full of crystals – meth and heroin

He was also involved in bringing in ‘brown heroin’ and ‘white heroin’, with his specific role to store the drugs and break it down to smaller portions to be sold on.

He had sent a photo through the app showing him in possession of heroin.

Dozens of others have been arrested in relation to the syndicate, but they are yet to enter pleas.