Fugitive developer Jean Nassif allegedly supplied 10 kilograms of the drug ice along with encrypted Ciphr phones to co-ordinate a secretive “dead drop” in Perth, according to an explosive court hearing.
Having met only the previous day, the two Victorian men drove through the night from Melbourne, arriving in Sydney at 6am as the sun began to light the cranes and construction of Nassif’s ill-fated Skyview towers, the court heard. In the weeks prior to the alleged dawn meeting at Nassif’s Skyview apartment block, Peagram was living in Melbourne and struggling to find work as the pandemic shuttered the city’s trades.
Toplace’s Skyview Towers, in June 2021, two months after developer Jean Nassif allegedly met drug runners in a back street to hand over a bag of methamphetamine, documents tendered to the WA District Court claim.“Nassif has some euros he wants dropped off in Perth when you collect the deposits. Nassif wants everything to be anonymous,” the handler allegedly told his gym buddy.
“He’s given a Ciphr phone. He is dropped off by Wood but needs to go further, so he contacts Mr Nassif and another person unknown to him,” Stocks told the court. “This is clearly sophisticated and organised.” Blackadder Creek Reserve, in Perth’s north-east, where Mathew Peagram, Samuel Wood and a third man, Thomas McMahon, were arrested over a “dead drop” drug trade in April 2021.On the Friday evening, Peagram received his instructions for the “dead drop” the following morning at Blackadder Creek Reserve, on the outskirts of Perth, the court heard.
It’s alleged Nassif had sent them photos of the “bridge spot” where they were to drop off the Nike bag and the “shrub spot” where they were to pick up the money. At the time, Ciphr phones were being used as the go-to method of clandestine communication for Australian criminals involved in the drug trade. Former Sydney Comanchero bikie boss Marco Coffen had purchased the Australian distribution rights for the device.
“ was classic courier, and the role he played was important but he was at that lower level – the very bottom of the drug hierarchy.”