A REBELS associate caught in a secret police sting has admitted to supplying more than a commercial quantity of ice and amphetamine in Tamworth.
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Mark Jeffrey Hicks has been in custody since he was arrested in Westdale in March last year, after a major police operation to bring down the Rebels gang in Tamworth unfolded, involving the NSW Police gangs squad, Strike Force Raptor and Oxley police.
Hicks, 38, appeared in Tamworth Local Court this week from John Moroney Correctional Centre, and was supported in court by family members.
Solicitor Tammy White said her client was pleading guilty to two counts of supplying more than a commercial quantity of drugs, knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime and recruiting another to assist in criminal activity.
According to court documents, Hicks admitted to supplying 439.06g of methylamphetamine between November 1, 2014, and March 2015, as well as 259.88g of amphetamine over an 18-month period.
He also admitted to dealing with at least $45,400 in cash, which police said was the proceeds of his drug-dealing.
“During the course of his involvement in the supply of drugs, Hicks collected money from his customers and paid his upper-level suppliers for the drugs he purchased,” court facts stated.
Hicks also pleaded guilty to recruiting his de-facto partner, Shannara Kelly, to assist in his drug-dealing.
Phone taps showed he instructed Kelly to throw out drugs on November 4, 2014, after fears police were onto him, facts tendered to the court this week stated.
Two weeks later, intercepts revealed Hicks instructed her to make up “two bags of amphetamine”, and then a day later told her to prepare a 1g bag of amphetamine, at their Westdale home.
The intercepts were uncovered by Oxley police, who launched Strike Force Mewburn in July 2014 to investigate the supply of illegal drugs by the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang.
Mewburn culminated in raids, several arrests and the dismantling of the Tamworth chapter’s headquarters, which officers stripped bare.
Following Hicks’ guilty pleas to four charges, the DPP said it was withdrawing three counts of supplying drugs on an ongoing basis.
Magistrate Roger Prowse committed Hicks – who faces a maximum of 20 years in prison – to the district court for sentencing in May.
“Sequences three, four and five are withdrawn, and you’re discharged,” Mr Prowse told Hicks.
“I am satisfied pleas have been properly entered.
“There being no application for bail, it’s refused.”
Kelly has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing in the district court on one count of supplying more than an indictable quantity of drug, while one count of hindering the discovery of evidence is on a back-up certificate.