High-level drug ring allegedly run under the nose of authorities from inside Sydney’s Villawood immigration detention centre

Police allege an immigrant in custody used an encrypted messaging service to deal drugs and coordinate a network of couriers outside the facility.

An immigrant in custody and another man have been charged in connection with an alleged drug ring that operated out of a detention center.

Police say 49-year-old Nigerian Dirichukwu Patrick Nweke trafficked large quantities of methylamphetamine via an encrypted messaging service from Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney’s west.

Organized crime investigators allege he set up and coordinated a network of couriers who carried out transactions on his behalf.

They say they found three cell phones during a search of a unit downtown on July 11.

Nweke has been charged with multiple offences, including leading a criminal organisation and supplying a large commercial quantity of prohibited drugs.

Police on Saturday seized two kilograms of methylamphetamine and $169,000 in cash linked to the syndicate.

On Wednesday, detectives found 750 grams of methylamphetamine and 90 grams of heroin in a toilet bowl during a house search in Liverpool.

The find is said to be evidence of ‘an attempt to dump the drugs’. Heroin was also found on the bathroom floor, as well as $325,000 in cash and an encrypted electronic device.

Police footage shows riot police breaking down the door as they begin searching. They also released an image of $50 bills stacked in a cardboard box.

Police also arrested a 24-year-old man suspected of being a delivery driver for the man in custody.

He has been charged with two counts of supplying prohibited drugs, participating in a criminal organisation and other offences.

Both men were denied bail after briefly appearing in court.