A NEWCASTLE barber and his best customer were allegedly using appointments at a Kotara barber shop to supply large quantities of methamphetamine, doing their business out in the open in full view of CCTV cameras.
Peter Todd Garay, now 52, of Hamilton South, was a regular at Kingsmen Hair at Westfield Kotara, making an appointment for a haircut with his barber Dominic Louis Cyril Tourneur, now 39, at least eight times between January 22 and his arrest on March 17 last year.
But police surveillance, telephone intercepts and an analysis of the shopping centre's CCTV allegedly revealed Garay was doing more than just getting a haircut, according to an agreed statement of facts first made public this week.
On a number of those occasions, detectives who formed Strike Force Wrack to investigate the supply of ice out of the barber shop, allegedly spotted Mr Tourneur handing Garay a black plastic bag before Garay allegedly handed him a bundle of cash. Each time the exchange was captured on CCTV.
On March 16 last year, the day before the strike force smashed the operation, Garay allegedly messaged Mr Tourneur to say: "Hey mate can u bring 3 premix 2 morrow c oldmate 4 one roll of white paint as well thanks".
At 3.40pm the next day, Garay sat down in the barber's chair to get his haircut.
During the cut, Mr Tourneur allegedly placed a black plastic bag in front of Garay's chair, while Garay allegedly placed a bundle of money in the drawer of Mr Tourneur's workstation.
Garay then paid for his haircut, left the barber shop and headed towards the escalators. He was arrested as he started running for the taxi rank outside and was asked what was in the black bag. "Three ounces of ice," Garay allegedly replied. Inside police found three bags containing a total of 83.63 grams of methamphetamine.
Garay participated in an interview on body worn video on the spot, admitting to buying and selling large quantities of ice for about six weeks. But he claimed he got the ice in the bag earlier in the day from a man at Hamilton South and said he was only at Westfield Kotara to get his haircut.
He also made a number of admissions to buying and selling six ounces, or about 170 grams, of methamphetamine in the six weeks before he was caught. He said he sold the drug in ounces for $3000 per ounce.
A few minutes later, detectives arrested Mr Tourneur inside the barber shop and allegedly found $5,000 in cash in the drawer of his workstation.
Police later searched Garay's motel room in Newcastle East and found another 9 grams of methamphetamine.
Garay appeared in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday via audio visual link from Long Bay Prison Hospital where he pleaded guilty to three counts of supplying an indictable quantity of a prohibited drug. He will next appear in Newcastle District Court next month to get a sentence date.
Meanwhile, Mr Tourneur's matter was also mentioned in court on Wednesday. He is yet to enter pleas to charges of supplying an indictable quantity of a prohibited drug and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
He remains on bail and will return to court on February 2.
